MPs have voted in favour of assisted dying paving the way for historic change if the bill becomes law.
After five hours of intense and heartfelt debate, in which some members of parliament were brought to tears, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed in the House of Commons with 330 voting in favour and 275 against.
Under the terms of the Bill, terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less could seek assistance to end their life, provided two doctors and a High Court judge confirm their decision.
MPs were given a “free vote” on the issue, meaning they could vote according to their conscience and not along party lines.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who put forward the Bill, said it would “give society a much better approach towards end of life”, whereas Tory MP Danny Kruger argued that it would pave the way for a “state suicide service”.
Mr Kruger, who led opposition to the Bill, said following the vote that “a lot of people are very worried about the lack of safeguards”. He said there will be further opportunities to improve the Bill, and if that’s not possible, to reject it.
Campaigners in favour of assisted dying hailed the result, saying “thousands of people will be heartened by this result”.
But those campaigners who had been fighting against it promised “this is not over”.
The bill will now go to the committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
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