In Scotland, legislators may become the first in the UK to approve a bill that allows terminally ill individuals to end their own lives. Dame Esther Rantzen is also urging Westminster MPs to vote on assisted dying, given that a report indicated that it has improved end-of-life care in places where it is permitted. Terminology surrounding assisted dying, assisted suicide, and euthanasia can be confusing. Assisted dying is generally defined as a situation in which a terminally ill individual seeks medical assistance to obtain lethal drugs that they self-administer.
Providing someone with a lethal dose of sedatives or helping them travel to a country where assisted suicide is legal are both forms of assisted suicide. Euthanasia is legal in fewer countries than assisted dying or assisted suicide, and consent is not necessarily limited to terminally ill patients. There are two types: voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia.
In the UK, laws prevent people from seeking medical aid to die. Euthanasia is illegal under English law and is considered manslaughter or murder. The Suicide Act 1961 also stipulates that encouraging or aiding a suicide is illegal in England and Wales, with violators potentially facing up to 14 years in prison. Similar laws also exist in Northern Ireland. To this end, a bill proposed by Mr McArthur will be debated in the Scottish Parliament in the autumn.
Dame Esther Rantzen launched a petition for assisted dying in December 2023 that surpassed the 100,000-signature hallmark needed to prompt debate in Parliament. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, has expressed his support for assisted dying and has promised a ballot on the issue if elected prime minister. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing are neutral on the topic, with some individuals such as Baroness Grey-Thompson concerned that susceptible persons may be coerced into seeking assisted dying
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