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UK Dying Bill: MPs Set To Debate ‘Right To Die’

Members of Parliament are to debate if some terminally ill people in England and Wales should be allowed to end their lives with medical supervision. … Continue reading UK Dying Bill: MPs Set To Debate ‘Right To Die’


uk dying billMembers of Parliament are to debate if some terminally ill people in England and Wales should be allowed to end their lives with medical supervision.

The proposed new bill which is being brought before the commons by the Labour MP, Rob Marris, will decide whether patients with a clear desire to end their lives would be prescribed a lethal dose of drugs by two doctors, and be permitted to take them.

Lord Falconer was the first person to put the assisted dying bill before the House of Lords, but it was not treated before the 2015 general election.

After the debate, MPs could then vote on assisted dying for the first time since 1997.

Opening the debate, Mr Marris said the current law did not meet the needs of the terminally ill, families or the medical profession.

He said there were too many “amateur suicides, and people going to Dignitas” and it was time for parliament to debate the issue because “social attitudes have changed”.

Mr Marris added: “The law in England and Wales has not got the balance right.

“This Bill would provide more protection for the living and more choice for the dying.”

He said he did not know what choice he would make if he was terminally ill, but said it would be comforting to know that the choice was available “to have a dignified and peaceful death at the time of my choosing”.