British MPs approve euthanasia

The British House of Commons passed a bill to legalize assisted suicide. With the vote passing 314-291, the bill must now go to the House of Lords, which is unlikely to oppose the verdict of its predecessor.

The vote took place after months of heated debate inside and outside the U.K. Parliament. Inside the chamber, party lines were broken, and the government allowed its ministers to vote their conscience.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer voted in favor. Outside on the streets, slogans like "don't make doctors killers" or "my death, my decision" became regular rallying cries, and both sides tried to get their message across inside by organizing campaigns for citizens to send hundreds of letters to their representatives.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill allows terminally ill adults with only six months to live to apply to the state for medication to commit suicide. Each case must be reviewed and approved by two physicians and a panel of experts (a social worker, a psychiatrist and a lawyer). If the necessary permissions are received, a medical professional delivers an "an approved substance with which the person may end their own life."

Promoters of the bill describe the process as solid and sufficient. But criticism of the bill abounds, even among members of Parliament (MPs) who said they were in favor of assisted dying, such as Labour's Diane Abbott: "I would not put my life or any one dear to me’s life in the hands of a panel of officials," she said during Friday's debate. "There is so much that is problematic about this bill."

Another argument against it is the cost to the country's public health service, which Wes Streeting, in charge of the portfolio, warned would add an unbearable cost for a system in crisis. The government evaluation, published last month, estimated a balance of up to 13.6 million pounds a year ($18.36 million). The opposing side claims that there will be savings from reduced spending on palliative care.

One of the thorniest points is how the rule could affect vulnerable populations. Patients with fewer resources, the argument goes, could be pushed to suicide by public or private health services in order to save on their care. In Canada, the predecessor and model of the British project, cases of similar pressures were reported.

The "anorexia loophole," revealed in recent weeks, added one more sector to the concern: those suffering from eating disorders could also ask for assisted suicide, activist groups claimed. This concern adds to the central doubt regarding psychological conditions: isn't part of the problem depression and desire for suicide?

But the group that has generated the most uproar is disabled people, which MP Vicky Foxcroft spoke about: "The vast majority of disabled people and their organi[z]ations oppose it."

A rising trend

A study by British media outlet The Telegraph ciphered the global total of assisted suicides and euthanasia deaths at 30,000 per year.

Although all the cases counted occurred in countries where they are legalized, regulations vary by national territory and, in the case of the U.S., state. In some nations, as many as one in 20 deaths were by assisted suicide.

The Telegraph data show an upward trend, both because new countries are joining the legalization process and because the rules are becoming more flexible. Among the most controversial cases, some legislation allows minors and adults with mental disorders to opt for assisted suicide.