Britain's parliament voted in favor of a new bill to legalize assisted dying on Friday, opening the way for months of further debate on an issue that has divided the country and raised questions about the standard of palliative care.

After a passionate debate in the House of Commons, lower house of parliament, 330 lawmakers voted in favor of the "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)" bill with 275 against.

The vote will start months of further debate and the bill could be changed as it wends its way through both House of Commons and the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour lawmaker who introduced the bill, has said she expects the process to take a further six months.