Assisted Dying Bill: What’s in the Proposed Law?

MPs have voted in favor of proposals to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales.

gave Bill It will now face several more months of debate and scrutiny by MPs and peers, who may choose to amend it, requiring the approval of both houses of parliament to become law.

It is also possible that the bill may fall and not become a law.

The bill – known as the Sick Adults (End of Life) Bill – would make it legal for people over the age of 18 to provide support to end their lives.

But the requirements are:

• They must be resident in England and Wales and registered with a GP for at least 12 months.
• They must have the mental capacity to make a choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, determined and informed will, free from coercion or duress.
• They should be expected to die within six months.
• They must make two separate declarations of their death wishes, witnessed and signed (by themselves or by a proxy on their behalf).
• Two independent doctors must be satisfied that the person is eligible – and there must be at least seven days between doctors’ reviews.
• The High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors and may also examine the deceased or any other person he or she thinks fit. A further 14 days must pass after the judge’s decision (although this can be shortened to 48 hours in some circumstances).

Under the bill, a doctor can prepare an “approved” substance (the bill doesn’t specify which drug it is) but the individual must take it themselves.

No doctor or anyone else shall be authorized to administer medicine to a terminally ill person.

The doctor will stay with the person until they self-ingest the substance and die (or the doctor determines that the procedure has failed).

The person may decide not to take it, in which case the doctor will have to remove the substance immediately.

Physicians are also under no obligation to participate in assisted dying.

This is called physician-assisted suicide. Voluntary euthanasia is different and where A health professional gives medication to a patient.

Under the Assisted Suicide Bill, deaths will not require a coroner’s inquest.

But the bill would make it illegal to coerce, coerce or use dishonesty to force someone to declare that they want to end their life or induce someone to self-administer an approved substance. want to do

If someone is found guilty of either of these acts, they can be jailed for up to 14 years.

What the bill doesn’t include is how much the system will do. Costwho will pay and what will be the workload.

And there is no detail about the judicial process – that is, how the evidence will be put before a High Court judge.

Lord Thomas, the former Lord Chief Justice, told the BBC’s Today program that it could not be a “rubber-stamping process” and that judges must be satisfied there was no coercion.

A person seeking assisted dying will be advised to consider telling their family and GP, but is not legally required to do so.