The next steps for Britain’s assisted dying bill

In 2015, 330 British MPs voted against legalising assisted dying. On Friday, 330 voted in favour of a private member’s bill to legalise it for the terminally ill.

The vote came after four and a half hours of emotional, detailed debate over the specifics of the new law.

There are still significant hurdles ahead for Kim Leadbeater, the bill’s sponsor, and those lobbying for change. The next step is a public bill committee of around 18 MPs, who will scrutinise every line of the bill and allow submissions of oral and written evidence.

Although the bill passed with a 55-person majority, there are a number of MPs who have suggested their support wouldn’t continue into the final stages if reassurances aren’t made about safeguarding measures.

Even so, the vote will go down in British parliamentary history as a social policy landmark alongside the legalising of abortion and gay marriage.