Labour MP Kim Leadbeater addressed the media at a rally in support of a proposal to legalize euthanasia in the UK, organized by campaigners from 'Dignity in Dying', outside The Palace of Westminster in London on Wednesday. — AFP

A fresh proposal to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales was introduced in the UK Parliament on Wednesday, raising concerns among senior church leaders and opponents about its potential consequences. Members of the House of Commons will have a free vote on Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, enabling them to vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines. Although details have not been released, an official familiar with the matter informed AFP that the current draft of the bill would require a patient's wish to die to be approved by a judge and two doctors. It would also be restricted to individuals with a life expectancy of six to 12 months.

Both supporters and opponents of the law change voiced their opinions outside Parliament, where an assisted dying bill was last debated and defeated in the Commons in 2015. Anil Douglas, 39, stated that an assisted dying law would have offered 'safety' and 'dignity' to his father, who ended his own life. 'It was a very lonely, dangerous, isolated death. He was forced to take very drastic action behind closed doors and couldn't discuss his decision with any of us that loved him,' he said.

Currently, assisted suicide is prohibited in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. In Scotland, which has a separate legal system and devolved powers to set its own health policy, it is not a specific criminal offense. However, it can expose individuals to other charges, including murder.

Leadbeater stated that her bill reflects a shift in public opinion towards assisted dying, which has been legalized to varying degrees in several European countries. She promised 'very robust, very secure safeguards' but emphasized that the main focus of the change is about giving people at the end of their life a choice. 'This is not about disabled people. It's not about old people. It's about people who are terminally ill and the rights that I believe they should have,' she told AFP. 'At the heart of this is the fact that at the moment, people are taking their lives, losing their lives in really difficult circumstances, and that needs to change.'

Opponents of the bill include some disability rights groups and the UK's highest-ranking Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who has urged followers to write to MPs to oppose the change. On Tuesday night, the leader of the world's Anglican communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, described the proposal as a 'dangerous... slippery slope' towards it being used by those who are not terminally ill. Welby will have a vote on the matter as he is one of the 26 'lords spiritual', senior Church of England clerics who sit in the upper chamber House of Lords.

Alistair Thompson, from the anti-euthanasia group Care Not Killing, also warned that changing the law could lead the country to follow Belgium and the Netherlands, which have both extended assisted dying to minors. 'We know that introducing an assisted suicidal euthanasia bill would put a lot of people under pressure to end their lives prematurely,' he told AFP.

MPs are expected to debate and vote on the bill on November 29. The outcome is uncertain given that Leadbeater introduced it as a private member's bill and not as part of the government's legislative agenda. A bill to legalize assisted dying in Scotland was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh earlier this year. The Isle of Man and Jersey, self-governing British Crown Dependencies not part of the UK, are also moving towards passing laws to allow terminally ill people the right to die.

Belgium, along with the Netherlands, became the first EU countries to permit euthanasia in 2002. Spain authorized euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for people with a serious and incurable illness in 2021, followed by Portugal in 2023.