London, Thanasis Gavos

Bill on assisted suicide will be presented on Wednesday in the British House of Commons.

The bill will not be introduced by the government, but by an individual member of parliament, as allowed by the rules of the chamber. In this case the rapporteur will be the Labor MP Kim Leadbeater, who happens to be the sister of the murdered MP, Joe Cox.

The proposed law calls for euthanasia to be allowed upon approval by a judge and two doctors. It will concern only patients who will have a diagnosis of a few months to live.

Usually bills tabled by MPs do not end up becoming laws, however in this particular case the Prime Minister did Keir Starmer has said he will allow members of his caucus to vote according to conscience. Ministers are asked to abstain from the initial vote.

If the bill is approved in the first phase, then it will be submitted in a more complete form to the plenary at the end of November, when a thorough debate on the matter will begin.

Supporters of the bill believe a parliamentary majority of support is likely, with many MPs admitting that they are weighing the moral and practical side of the matter until the last minute. The Prime Minister himself has come out in favor of the right to choose at the end of life for people with terminal illnesses.

The last time the issue came as a bill in the British Parliament was in 2015 and it was rejected by a vote of 330 against 118 in favor.

Ms Leadbeater said public opinion had since shifted. Polls have shown that 2/3 of citizens support controlled assisted suicide, while only one in ten declares to be strongly opposed.

Bills by MPs have been used in the past to change the law on matters of conscience, such as legalizing abortion, decriminalizing homosexuality and abolishing the death penalty.