UK lawmakers vote down bill to allow assisted dying in England and Wales

LONDON (AP) — U.K. lawmakers on Friday voted down legislation to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives.

Following an impassioned four-hour debate in the elected House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected 286 to 270. The outcome was somewhat surprising given that an almost identical bill had passed last year with a margin of 23 votes.

The vote brings an end to a two-year debate in Parliament about assisted dying, during which the House of Commons had backed assisted dying on two previous occasions. Their backing wasn’t enough for it to become law because it was effectively filibustered by unelected lawmakers in the House of Lords.

Back in the House of Commons on Friday, the bill had proposed allowing adults in England and Wales who have fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.

Many individual lawmakers relayed their own stories both in favor of and against the proposal. The government took a neutral stance, meaning lawmakers voted according to their consciences rather than along party lines.

One lawmaker who was among…