NYT: British Lawmakers Voted to Legalize Assisted Dying. Here's What to Know. (Gift link)

[Dennis Donovan]

NYT - British Lawmakers Voted to Legalize Assisted Dying. Here’s What to Know.

The House of Commons voted in favor of a bill that would legalize assisted dying for the terminally ill, under strict conditions. A similar proposal was rejected in 2015.



By Ali Watkins and Alexandra E. Petri
Nov. 29, 2024, 11:50 a.m. ET

Lawmakers in Britain voted on Friday in favor of a proposal to legalize assisted dying for some terminally ill patients in England and Wales.

The 330 to 275 vote in the House of Commons was not the final say on the matter; the legislation will be scrutinized in parliamentary committees and amendments may be put forward.

It was the first time in nearly a decade that British lawmakers voted on assisted dying, a once-taboo practice that has been the subject of increased interest as some Western countries have made it legal in recent years. Here’s what to know.

What does the bill say?
The bill that was approved on Friday applies to those who are at least 18 years old, have received a terminal diagnosis and have no more than six months to live. Two doctors and a judge are required to give their approval, and fatal drugs would have to be self-administered.

Parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to allow assisted dying in 2015. But since then, as other European countries have slowly approved assisted suicide, pressure has mounted on British lawmakers to establish their own policy, especially as it has become more common for terminally ill Britons to travel abroad to die on their own terms.

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[Sympthsical]

1. California has assisted dying

My partner's a PharmD, and we've had long conversations about the process and everything that goes along with it. It's quite involved. The conditions are more or less the same as what Britain is proposing. Over 18, terminal diagnosis, less than six months life expectancy.

A lot of pharmacists opt out of dispensing the drugs. I know there's been instances where my partner had to hunt down a pharmacist for a request, and now he has a list of go-to's in his organization for it. It was easier to have a list of those who would rather than those who wouldn't.

It's important to note that it is different than euthanasia. That is when a doctor directly administers the drugs. With California's MAID laws (Medical Assistance in Dying), the patient has to administer the drugs themselves.