在全球范围内，约有30个司法管辖区已经使安乐死合法化，但英国在公众和首相总体支持这一原则的情况下，仍明显滞后。英格兰和威尔士方面，相关法案已于下议院通过，却因上议院少数未经选举的同僚通过堆积修正案耗尽法定时间而注定失败。

这个议题的历史很长：上议院早在1936年就正式讨论过安乐死法案，且自1960年代起几乎每十年就有推动尝试；自2003年以来，莱德比特只是第5位提出此类法案的议员。其他国家经过公开辩论后通常实现了立法，而英国则反复拖延。

常见反对理由包括强迫、安宁疗护不足以及“滑坡效应”，但法案设置了“预期余命不超过6个月且向两名医生持续提出请求”这类门槛来降低风险。文章认为真正风险在于法案标准过窄，合格人群可能远少于合理需求，因此主张政府今年以法案形式提交并允许议员按良知投票，尽管党内和内阁阻力可能很大。

Around 30 jurisdictions worldwide have legalised assisted dying, yet Britain remains far behind despite broad public and prime-ministerial support. In England and Wales, a similar bill passed the Commons, but a small number of unelected Lords is now likely to sink it by submitting amendments to consume all available time.

The debate is longstanding: the Lords first debated assisted dying in 1936, and attempts have come almost every decade since the 1960s; since 2003, Leadbeater is only the fifth parliamentarian to introduce such a bill. Other countries moved from debate to law, while Britain keeps delaying.

Objections on coercion, weak palliative care, and a “slippery slope” are answered by safeguards requiring patients with six months or less to live and repeated requests to two doctors, and the article argues that these concerns are overstated. The main risk is that eligibility is too narrow, producing very few qualifying cases, so it calls for a government-backed bill this year and a conscience vote, despite likely pushback from the PM’s own party and cabinet.

Source: Sir Keir Starmer is Britain’s best hope for legalising assisted dying

Subtitle: He should stop dawdling

Dateline: 4月 09, 2026 06:50 上午