CV NEWS FEED // The United Kingdom may be preserved from the implementation of assisted suicide for a few more years, according to recent reports.
According to iTV News, the bill completed its committee stage in Parliament March 25 with a number of amendments, including one that holds back its rollout period for up to four years — to 2029 — if the bill becomes law.
Lay people, clergy and religious have joined disability advocates and others in striving to make sure the bill doesn’t pass.
Member of Parliament (MP) Kim Leadbeater, who is spearheading the bill, is the one who proposed extending the rollout period to four years.
iTV reported that Leadbeater said that it is “more important to do this properly than to do it quickly.”
Opponents of the bill have raised alarm over its weakening of safeguards, The Guardian reported March 25. In a major change to the proposal, lawmakers recently scrapped the requirement for each case to be reviewed by a High Court judge, arguing that the change avoids overburdening the courts.
Instead, cases would be brought before a panel consisting of a lawyer, a psychiatrist, and a social worker for approval.
At the same time, supporters of the bill are growing uneasy that extending the timeline to 2029 could ultimately doom the proposal, according to The Guardian. With a general election due that same year, they believe that lawmakers might hesitate to advance such a divisive proposal, fearing that it could cost them votes.
>> Catholic UK archbishop warns of rushed pro-assisted suicide bill: ‘deeply irresponsible’ <<
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