The British Parliament has voted against legalizing assisted suicide services for adults, successfully blocking a bill that was filibustered out of time before the April recess.
The House of Commons voted 286-270 on Friday to deny the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which sought to “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life.”
It was a surprising result, given that the lower chamber had previously approved a near-identical bill in the last parliamentary session.
The bill was put forward by Labour MP Lauren Edwards to replace the almost identical bill put forward by fellow Labour MP Kim Leadbeater last session, but the legislation had less institutional backing from party leaders this time around.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham refrained from voting on the bill to not “unduly influence the debate,” and he did not even attend Parliament during the vote. It was a notable departure from his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who vocally supported the legalization of assisted suicide and voted for the previous bill.
The previous bill was ultimately blocked in the House of Lords.
Supporters of the bill characterized it as a human rights issue centered on personal autonomy and quality of life, pointing to cases of British citizens traveling overseas to countries like Switzerland to be euthanized.
Opponents of the bill characterized it as misguided and contrary to ripe for error. Others pointed out that life expectancies for those with terminal illnesses are notoriously difficult to predict.
“I have to be honest with you,” Zubir Ahmed, a cancer surgeon and Labour MP, told his fellow members of parliament. “When I am asked to prognosticate as to whether someone has six months to live or not, I am as often wrong as I am right.”
Had the bill passed, assisted suicide would not have immediately been made available. There would have been a four-year implementation period required, meaning such cases would not be able to take place until 2031 at the earliest.
Assisted suicide, also referred to as “assisted dying” or “euthanasia,” has become one of the most politically charged cultural battles in Europe and North America. Assisted dying programs have been rolled out in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and elsewhere.
Several countries that have legalized the practice have experienced unexpected surges in use of the service — including the Netherlands, which admitted in a June report presented to the national Parliament that a child under 12-years-old was euthanized toward the end of last year due to severe illness.
France’s National Assembly approved a bill legalizing assisted suicide in July for terminally ill adults via lethal medication.
Jonathan Denis, president of the Association for the Right to Die With Dignity, argued at the time that “a law that creates a new right never forces anyone to exercise it. It does, however, ensure that every person … can remain at the heart of medical decisions that concern them and have their wishes respected.”