UK assisted suicide bill amended to extend rollout deadline

Members of Parliament on Wednesday approved an extension of the proposed rollout date for legal assisted suicide, Sky News reported. The extension is part of continuing revisions to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, which would legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales. The House of Commons committee that voted for the change has spent two months reviewing the bill line-by-line. The committee also voted to make assisted suicide available for free under the National Health Service, the UK’s publicly funded healthcare system.

The new amendment extends the rollout from two years to four, meaning that even if the bill passes, assisted suicide may not be available until 2029. The delay also pushes the bill's implementation back to the next election year, leaving some members of Parliament worried it will be scrapped. The first time Parliament voted on the bill, in November, it advanced in a 330-275 vote.

Kim Leadbeater, the member of Parliament who proposed the bill, said it will soon return to the full House of Commons for debate following the committee evaluation period. Leadbeater recently pulled a provision from the bill that required each case to be approved by a High Court justice. Instead, panels of lawyers, psychiatrists, and social workers will oversee assisted suicide applications.

What else is in the bill?

• Adults living in England and Wales who are expected to die within six months may apply for assisted suicide.

• He or she must also have been registered with a general practice doctor for at least a year, must be mentally capable of expressing an uncoerced wish to die, and must make two separate declarations of his or her intent.

• Two doctors—a coordinating doctor and an independent doctor—must sign off on the decision.

• If approved, a doctor will prepare a lethal substance that the patient must take themselves.

• Medical professionals would not be required to provide assisted suicide and should not face any penalties from employers for refusing to do so. However, they are required to refer patients to someone else who offers the procedure.

Is assisted suicide currently legal anywhere in the British Isles? The Isle of Man on Tuesday sent its own assisted suicide bill for royal approval, the final step before it becomes law. Once approved, the Isle will become the first territory under the British Crown to allow the procedure for adults who have lived on the island for at least five years and are expected to die within a year.

Dig deeper: Read Amy Lewis’ report on proposed expansion of assisted suicide in Australia.