The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, passed by the House of Commons on June 20, 2025, has been blocked in the House of Lords by a small minority of peers who tabled over 1,200 amendments, and is expected to expire without a vote at the end of the parliamentary session in May 2025.
The bill, which would have allowed terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to request assistance to end their lives, now appears unlikely to become law in this session. According to multiple reports, the House of Lords has effectively stalled the legislation through a filibuster of amendments, preventing a final vote. The exact number of amendments remains disputed: while major media sources report over 1,200 amendments were tabled, campaigners including Dame Esther Rantzen have cited a figure of 12,000. This discrepancy highlights the scale of obstruction, with the lower figure suggesting a focused filibuster and the higher implying an extreme level of delay.
My mother, her brother, my uncle, my grandma, great grandma, my great great grandma and great great grandad, all died from Huntingtons.
Dame Esther Rantzen, the broadcaster and assisted dying campaigner who has terminal lung cancer, has been a vocal supporter of the bill. She said she will not live long enough to see it become law. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she stated that 12,000 amendments have been put down to block the bill, adding that the desire behind the handful of peers who inspired those amendments is not to slow it down but to block it. "It's very disappointing indeed," she said. "Anybody who is terminally ill, over the age of 18, with six months left to live deserves the choice to request assistance to shorten their death." She emphasised that the bill is about choice, not shortening lives but shortening deaths. "Doctors used to ease people out of life; that's what we need, we need the opportunity to ask for assistance. Not to shorten our lives but to shorten our deaths," she said at a press conference. She also addressed criticism from disability rights advocates, arguing that the bill does not apply to disabled people and that the Royal Colleges of Medicine have not opposed it but rather decided that doctors should have the choice.
The bill's failure has deeply affected families who have experienced terminal illness. According to Daily Mirror - News, Josh Cook's mother, Lisa, took her own life at age 57 to escape Huntington's disease. Josh described how his mother stockpiled 150 tablets and sent him away for the weekend, telling him not to disturb her until Monday. He returned early to find her dead body on her bed. He said his grandmother also died of Huntington's, and he fears he will face the same fate if the law does not change. Poppy Bilderbeck's mother, Kate, died of terminal pancreatic cancer in August 2025. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Poppy said that having the ability to choose would have given her mother peace and comfort, and that it feels unfair the bill will not pass because she would not wish anyone else to go through what they endured.
My grandma stopped me from seeing her, she isolated herself whilst she went through the illness until she died of it. My mum watched her die. My mum took her own life and she knew when my time comes, I'll be going down the same route if we haven't changed the law.
Supporters of the bill have reacted with anger. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Poppy Bilderbeck accused peers of a "massive breach of their authority and power" for blocking the bill, stating that unlike Brexit, this involves literal human lives. Rebecca Wilcox, daughter of Dame Esther Rantzen, described the fall of the bill as "democratic vandalism" in a social media post. "This is a shameful moment for UK democracy," she wrote. "But we will not stop campaigning until everyone has the choice to die without pain. And that includes those who choose not to. That's how choice works. How many more people will die in needless agony because of this democratic vandalism?"
A protest in support of the bill is scheduled to be held in Parliament Square on Friday. However, many unknowns remain about the bill's future. It is unclear whether the bill will be revived in a future parliamentary session, and the exact number of peers actively opposing it has not been confirmed. The specific amendments proposed and whether any were substantive also remain unknown. Dame Esther Rantzen's current health status is not publicly detailed, but she has vowed to continue battling on behalf of future generations. "I will obviously keep battling, not on my own behalf but on behalf of all the future generations that deserve a proper, compassionate, humanitarian bill," she said.
She'd stockpiled the meds, 150 tablets and made a decision, sent me off to go play rugby and coach rugby all weekend. She told me 'don't come back and don't disturb me until Monday.'
I didn't make it to Monday and I went to see her on Sunday after I'd coached my kid's rugby league again. I came bowling back to her bungalow with a massive grin on my face because my lad had just had a real good game. I'd got some good videos of him to show my mum and walked in. I didn't hear her TV on, I knew something was wrong. I walked in to find her poor dead body on her bed and she'd been gone a good few hours. She was under the covers but, like, twisted u
I will obviously keep battling, not on my own behalf but on behalf of all the future generations that deserve a proper, compassionate, humanitarian bill.
Doctors used to ease people out of life; that's what we need, we need the opportunity to ask for assistance. Not to shorten our lives but to shorten our deaths.
I think it's very sad that disabled people think this bill applies to them, it doesn't, and when Tanni [Grey-Thompson] says that nobody thinks this bill is safe – yes, they do. And when she says that the Royal Colleges of Medicine are opposed of it, no they're not. What they have decided is that doctors should have the choice, and what this bill is all about is choice.
Unlike Brexit, this is literal human lives. It feels like the House of Lords are just kind of taking hold of their power and their authority, which has not been backed or been supported by the general public, which just feels like a massive breach of their authority and power.
It feels so unfair that the bill isn't going to be passed because I just wouldn't wish anyone else to go through what me and my mum had to go through and it's avoidable, which makes it all the more frustrating.
I think having her being able to have control would have given her a lot of peace and comfort knowing that she could choose, and it would be, it would be a dignified death.
It's very disappointing indeed. 12,000 amendments have been put down, the desire behind the handful of peers who have inspired those amendments is not to slow down the bill but to block it. And they have achieved their aim, which means that I haven't got the choice. Anybody who is terminally ill, over the age of 18, with six months left to live deserves the choice to request assistance to shorten their death.
If you're in agony, if you're faecal vomiting, some people have to vomit their own c**p and the best palliative care in the world cannot help them.
This is a shameful moment for UK democracy. But we will not stop campaigning until everyone has the choice to die without pain. And that includes those who choose not to. That’s how choice works. How many more people will die in needless agony because of this democratic vandalism?