UK MPs to hold crunch vote on assisted dying
British lawmakers could take a major step towards legalising euthanasia on Friday when they hold a knife-edge vote on whether to allow assisted dying for terminally ill people.
MPs will either progress the legislation to the House of Lords upper chamber for further scrutiny or end it entirely following several hours of impassioned debate.
Protesters both for and against the contentious bill are expected to gather outside parliament as the so-called third reading -- the MPs' last chance to debate its contents -- takes place inside.
"It is about real people facing the prospect of a painful and undignified death either for themselves or a loved one," the legislation's proposer, MP Kim Leadbeater, told AFP in a statement.
"The injustice and inhumanity of the status quo means we cannot wait any longer to offer them the hope of a better death."
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow assisted suicide in England and Wales for adults with an incurable illness who have a life expectancy of fewer than six months.
They would have to be able to administer themselves the life-ending substance, and any patient's wish to die would have to be signed off by two doctors and a panel of experts.
A change in the law would see Britain emulate several other countries in Europe and elsewhere that allow some form of assisted dying.
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Supporters say euthanasia would give the terminally ill greater protections and choice at the end of their lives, but critics worry that vulnerable people could be coerced into dying.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists said last month that it had "serious concerns" about the safeguarding of people with mental illness and said it cannot support the bill in its current form.
MPs backed the proposed legislation by 330 to 275 votes at an initial vote in parliament last November.
Since then the bill has undergone several changes, including applying a ban on adverts for assisted dying and allowing all health workers to opt out of helping someone end their life.
Several lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament have subsequently switched positions, and parties are not telling them how to vote, making the outcome difficult to predict.
An ITV News tracker of around half the parliamentarians estimates that 153 MPs plan to vote for changing the law, with 141 against. Some 21 remain undecided with another 21 due to abstain.
Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords need to approve the legislation before the end of the current parliamentary year, likely sometime in the autumn, or the bill will fail.
If it passes and receives royal assent, then it would be four years before an assisted dying service is implemented.
A government impact assessment published this month estimated that approximately 160 to 640 assisted deaths could take place in the first year, rising to a possible 4,500 in year 10.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to vote in favour but several of his top ministerial team, including the health and justice secretaries, have publicly opposed changing the law.
Assisted suicide currently carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Separate legislation is going through the devolved Scottish parliament, while the Isle of Man at the end of March became the first British territory to pass an assisted dying bill.
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