The Terminally Ill Adults (end of life) Bill aims to give terminally ill, mentally competent adults with less than 6 months to live in England and Wales the choice of a legal assisted death, under strict safeguards. Although polling has consistently shown support from more than 70% of the public, it has encountered fierce opposition from those opposed in principle, and those who believe that, as drafted, it would be open to abuse.
This was not a government Bill, and Andy Burnham has made it clear that MPs and ministers can vote with their consciences. It was presented in 2025 as a private member’s bill by Kim Leadbeater. After failing to reach a conclusion in the House of Lords, it is now being presented again in the Commons by Lauren Edwards, MP for Rochester and Strood.
Progress in the last parliamentary session
In the last parliamentary session, the bill had an unprecedented degree of scrutiny, and consumed a very large amount of parliamentary time. After over 110 hours of debate in the Commons, it was approved by a majority of 23, and passed to the House of Lords. There, it received 16 days of debate, including five days in a special select committee (the first time this has ever been done for a private member’s bill). However, a small group of peers tabled over 1100 amendments, two thirds of them submitted by seven peers. As a result, the bill ran out of time at the end of the parliamentary session, without the Lords taking a vote.
Trying again
Normally that would be the end of the matter, but Lauren Edwards, MP for Rochester and Strood, is presenting the bill again in the Commons on Friday. She says that “this is unfinished business for parliament. When a small minority of peers in the House of Lords prevented the bill from passing earlier this year it came as a huge disappointment to all those terminally ill people and their families who are depending on parliament to give them the safe and compassionate choice they deserve. We cannot let them down again. MPs have already voted in favour of this long-overdue change to the law.
By publishing the bill again, I am simply asking my colleagues in the elected chamber to return it to the Lords so they can finish their proper task of scrutinising and revising it in the usual way. There is nothing unusual about asking the Lords to look at a piece of legislation a second time. It is almost invariably the case that when they do so, agreement is reached between the two Houses and any amendments are agreed in the usual way. That is what I and Lord Falconer hope and believe will happen with this bill. The Parliament Acts are just there as a back stop or insurance policy against another undemocratic filibuster that would thwart the will of the elected chamber. Like any insurance policy, nobody wants to have to use it.”
Lord Charlie Falconer who is the bill’s sponsor in the Lords said, “Earlier this year, over 200 peers wrote to MPs asking for this bill to be returned to us as soon as possible so we can finish the job that was interrupted at the end of the last session of parliament. Along with so many of my fellow members of the House of Lords, I am delighted that Lauren Edwards is giving us the opportunity to do that. The bill is well drafted, robust and safe. The government confirmed to peers in November that it was workable and the official Impact Assessment showed it was affordable and deliverable. As I made clear several times in previous debates, there are amendments that could make the legislation even stronger and more effective. The right place to make those amendments is in the Lords and both Lauren and I are more than ready to resume discussions with all those who want to see the best possible law reach the statute book.”
Worldwide changes
Since the Bill was first presented in the Commons there have been developments internationally. The legislatures of Jersey and the Isle of Man have both passed laws in favour of assisted dying. The Scottish Parliament approved the principle (Stage 1), but the revised bill was defeated at the final vote. Further afield, 20 countries now have national laws, along with 13 US states.
Next steps
It is not clear what happens next. One might expect that, since the bill is substantially the same as the one passed by the Commons in June 2025, its passage through the Commons would be a formality, in which case it might pass to the Lords quite quickly. However, if MPs want to debate it again, it may be some months before the Lords have the chance to revisit it. Whether that is the case may become clearer on Friday. Should the Lords finally decide to reject it, there is still the backstop of the Parliament Acts, which would allow the Commons to overrule the Lords, although Lauren Edwards has said she does not wish to do so.
