{"id":41538,"date":"2024-11-29T15:04:56","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T15:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/?p=41538"},"modified":"2024-12-13T14:33:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T14:33:12","slug":"mps-vote-in-favour-of-divisive-bill-to-legalise-assisted-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/2024\/11\/29\/mps-vote-in-favour-of-divisive-bill-to-legalise-assisted-dying\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs vote in favour of divisive bill to legalise assisted dying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Assisted.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MPs have approved a Private Members Bill that will legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vote this afternoon came after the second reading of the Bill, put forward by backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, proposing to give terminally ill adults a choice about how they end their life, subject to safeguards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Parliament, the bill was open to a \u201cfree vote\u201d, meaning that the party whips would not dictate whether to support or oppose the bill, illustrating the emotive and personal nature of the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bristol based Pauline Caroll, a retired nurse, has been a campaigner for Dignity in Dying for 14 years. The group has been advocating for a law to legalise assisted dying for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She says that if it passes it will create <em>\u201ca more compassionate choice\u201d <\/em>for the terminally ill and prevent a \u201chorrible death\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This emphasis on choice is important in the campaign in favour of the bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ms Carroll says this would be a <em>\u201cmove away from paternalism in the medical sphere where some doctors put their own ideology first rather than their patients\u201d<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The retired nurse also emphasises the <em>\u201cstrict\u201d<\/em> safeguards put in place, such as patients having the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life and being expected to die within six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Furthermore, two independent doctors must be satisfied that the person is eligible and the decision must be approved by a high court judge&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Nicola Wilderspin, a palliative care doctor, argues that these are merely hurdles rather than safeguards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although coercion of a patient would be a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison she feels vulnerable people are still at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A member of the campaign group Care Not Killing group, Ms Wilderspin argues that people may feel they have a <em>\u201cduty to die\u201d<\/em>, so as to not be a burden upon their families and the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In her opinion the legalisation of assisted dying may lead to this option being pushed on patients, thereby actually reducing their choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She is also worried, should this bill pass, that the law will be extended to other people. \u201cIf we start to think it\u2019s okay for one group to end their lives, this could quite quickly begin to extend to other groups\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, in Canada and the Netherlands where those suffering from mental health issues can access assisted dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Ms Carroll points to the version of assisted dying that has existed in Oregon, USA since 1997; <em>\u201cIf there, why not here?\u201d<\/em> she asks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MPs have approved a Private Members Bill that will legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. The vote this afternoon came after the second reading of the Bill, put forward by backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, proposing to give terminally ill adults a choice about how they end their life, subject to safeguards. In Parliament, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306,"featured_media":41654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1620],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41538"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41653,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41538\/revisions\/41653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}