The long-awaited Assisted Dying Bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales for terminally ill adults, has hit a roadblock in the House of Lords. The bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in October 2024, has already cleared the House of Commons, but is now facing extensive scrutiny and a flurry of proposed amendments from peers.
The bill, known as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, would allow people over the age of 18 who are expected to die within six months to receive help to end their own lives, subject to certain safeguards. A separate bill proposing to legalise assisted dying in Scotland has also passed an initial vote in the Scottish Parliament and is undergoing further examination.
The legislation continues to generate significant controversy, with passionate arguments on both sides. While the House of Commons voted in favour of the bill by a majority of 55 in November last year, the House of Lords is now conducting a detailed line-by-line examination and has proposed over 1,000 amendments – a record number for a private member’s bill.
Supporters of assisted dying have raised concerns that the sheer volume of amendments, as well as the slow progress in debating them, is a delaying tactic by opponents aimed at blocking the bill from becoming law. They argue that it would be undemocratic for unelected peers to frustrate a bill that has already been approved by elected members of Parliament.
However, opponents of the bill insist that significant changes are necessary to ensure the legislation is safe and to protect vulnerable people. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, a crossbench peer and former Paralympian, has criticised the bill as “badly written” and said many of the amendments are aimed at preventing coercion.
The government has maintained a neutral stance on the bill, treating it as a matter of conscience for MPs and peers. While Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously supported the idea of assisted dying, the government has said it will not provide parliamentary time for the bill, leaving it to the House of Lords to debate and scrutinise.
With the current session of Parliament expected to end in early May, there is a real risk that the bill could run out of time to become law. Peers have proposed extending the scheduled Friday sessions to allow for more debate, but if the bill is not passed by both Houses before the end of the session, it will fall and the process will have to start again from scratch.
The fate of the Assisted Dying Bill remains uncertain, as the House of Lords continues its detailed examination and the clock ticks down on the current parliamentary session. The ongoing debate and the potential for further delays have left many advocates of assisted dying concerned about the bill’s chances of becoming law.