Karla Adam
Appearances
Today, Explained
The right to die
Yeah, so we had a hugely significant vote in the House of Commons recently. And I know that journalists don't shy away from using the word historic, but it feels apt in this case. And that's because for the first time, British MPs have voted in favour of legalising assisted dying in England and Wales.
Today, Explained
The right to die
This is not a done deal. So it still has to move through various stages in Parliament. And in the new year, we'll start to hear some public hearings. If it does pass all the hurdles, it could still be two to three years before it's a real possibility. But there is a very decent chance of this becoming law. So, yes, it's historic. And people...
Today, Explained
The right to die
have compared it to the decriminalization of abortion in the 1960s, and they're making these kind of comparisons.
Today, Explained
The right to die
So in the case of England and Wales, it applies to adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and they have less than six months to live. And the second crucial thing is you have to administer the drug yourself. And that makes it distinct from some countries where a doctor can administer a lethal drug. But also there are more restrictions. So in the UK case, you...
Today, Explained
The right to die
The request will need to be authorized by two physicians as well as a high court judge.
Today, Explained
The right to die
Yeah, well, I think it's helpful to talk about the debate in the House of Commons, which was incredibly powerful, respectful, emotional debate.
Today, Explained
The right to die
Kim Leadbeater, she's the main sponsor of the bill. She's a Labour MP. And she talked very movingly about choice and autonomy. And she made the point that this is not about shortening life. This is about shortening death. And she recounted some heartbreaking stories and said the current law wasn't serving people and that we need to have choice to alleviate suffering at the end of life.
Today, Explained
The right to die
Another very moving speech was given by David Davies. He's a Conservative MP, a senior figure in the Conservative Party, and he talked about how he changed his mind.
Today, Explained
The right to die
Those were just some of the very powerful arguments in favor of this bill. And so what were the arguments against it? Yeah, so there's an equally sort of passionate case against the bill.
Today, Explained
The right to die
And here we heard arguments about the need to protect the vulnerable, the sanctity of life, the need to focus on improving the end-of-life care rather than introducing assisted dying, especially for those who might think that they are a burden. And Diane Abbott, she's the mother of the house, a senior figure in the Labour Party. She made a very impassioned plea.
Today, Explained
The right to die
And she also raised a lot of questions about logistics. So what exactly would a high court judge do? Would there be a trial? What if the judge disagreed with the doctors? Would they even ever do that? Or is this just a rubber stamp? Danny Kruger, he's probably the leading opponent against the bill. He's a conservative MP.
Today, Explained
The right to die
He talked about how Parliament could do better than what he called a state suicide service, a language that some people said was inflammatory.
Today, Explained
The right to die
If you zoom out, you see these really two human instincts playing out, which is the desire to alleviate human suffering and the desire to protect the vulnerable. And it's playing out not just in Parliament, but also across society. We've had former prime ministers and faith leaders and those in the medical community all weighing in. And yeah, it's been very emotional.
Today, Explained
The right to die
I was just looking this up and I found one poll that showed over 70% of people back assisted dying. With some restrictions. So, I mean, there's overwhelming support for this here. And in a way, the politics are catching up with public opinion and not just public opinion in 2024. There has long been support for assisted dying in the UK and not just in the UK and in several countries as well.
Today, Explained
The right to die
Where else do you see this debate playing out? Yeah, it's playing out in a lot of countries. And I should say that it is illegal in most countries around the world. But at the same time, I think we've seen a lot of countries revisiting their prohibitions on assisted dying in recent years. Like just since 2021, for instance, we've had Austria, Spain, Portugal, they've all passed laws.
Today, Explained
The right to die
In Italy and Germany, there isn't a national law, but the courts have effectively made it legal. The first state to allow assisted dying in the U.S. was Oregon, but a handful of states now have a version of this, including D.C. I think there's been a really interesting movement in Ireland, which is a hugely Catholic country,
Today, Explained
The right to die
and Parliament is considering it there, and we'll see if that's taken on board when there's a new government in the new year. In many countries, there's been a single specific case that has really drawn attention to this issue, and people might be familiar with the movie with Javier Bardem.
Today, Explained
The right to die
It's called The Sea Inside, and it's about a young man, a young Spanish man who was paralyzed after a diving accident.
Today, Explained
The right to die
He filmed himself taking poison after a huge 28-year effort to secure the right to die. And, I mean, this was a massive deal in Spain. And it's not just Spain that has singular cases like this that have really... galvanized momentum behind the subject. But I mean, that's one sort of high profile example that was made into a film.
Today, Explained
The right to die
But many other countries, there'll be a singular case that just emotionally really, really sort of tugs at the nation.
Today, Explained
The right to die
I think that the details are going to become super important. And we're going to see that play out over the next decade. few months and perhaps, you know, few years if and when it comes into practice. Already some of the things that people are talking about are, you know, while the Parliament has said that they back the idea in principle, they will have to sort through the details.
Today, Explained
The right to die
So things like, would the deaths happen at home or in hospital? How does this work exactly through the NHS? How much money does it cost? Are judges available to sign off? Should doctors be banned from suggesting it? Is it only okay if the patient is the one who first raises it? I think the sort of nitty gritty like that is fascinating. And there's a lot of unknowns.