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British Members of Parliament (MPs) have rejected a bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales after a knife-edge vote on Friday.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was defeated by 286 votes to 270, dealing a major blow to campaigners seeking to legalise the practice.
The bill would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to choose to end their lives.
Those seeking assisted dying would have needed approval from two doctors and an expert panel, while also being able to clearly express their wish to die.
The vote followed hours of emotional debate in the House of Commons, after years of campaigning and protests by supporters and opponents of assisted dying.
Gordon Macdonald of the Care Not Killing group welcomed the result, describing it as a “decisive vote”.
He said MPs had “over the last 24 months seen through the pernicious pretence that this draft legislation was safe and wouldn’t put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives prematurely”.
Outside Parliament, supporters of the bill were seen crying and comforting one another after the result.
“This is a devastating setback for dying people,” charity Dignity in Dying said, adding that “this issue is not going away”.
The bill had previously passed a landmark vote in the Commons last June before being delayed and effectively blocked by more than 1,200 amendments in the House of Lords.
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham had said he would not vote, saying he did not want to “unduly influence the debate”.
Since becoming prime minister in July, Burnham has renewed his focus on improving social care for elderly and vulnerable people and has backed greater prioritisation of palliative care.
Assisted dying remains legal in several countries, including Canada and Switzerland.
In Scotland, where health is devolved, lawmakers rejected a separate assisted dying bill earlier this year.
The British dependencies of Jersey and the Isle of Man have approved assisted dying legislation, although both measures are still awaiting royal assent.
