According to the MHP Polarisation Tracker survey, public support for a change in the law on assisted dying is overwhelming, with 75% in favor and only 14% opposed. Only one in ten surveyed people say assisted dying should be illegal under all circumstances. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is currently set to fail when parliament ends its current session ahead of the King's Speech on 13 May, as reported by Sky News.
Support for assisted dying is strongest among those on the political Right, rising to 83% among Conservative voters, according to the survey. A majority of people of almost all faiths back the change, including 68% of Christians, with only 20% opposed, the survey found. Muslims are the only faith demographic where more people disagree (48%) than agree (25%) with assisted dying, based on the survey data.
Additionally, 59% of surveyed people say assisted dying should be an option for people with greatly impaired quality of life, regardless of whether they are terminally ill, according to the survey. The bill would give people over 18 who are terminally ill and in the final six months of their life the ability to request assistance from a doctor to die. It only covers England and Wales.
MSPs rejected a Scottish version of the assisted dying bill on 17 March, while Jersey and the Isle of Man recently passed their own laws. The bill will fall if it does not complete all parliamentary stages before the end of the current session in the coming weeks. The House of Lords has added about 1,200 amendments to the bill, which will probably result in it falling without a vote.
Many MPs who voted to pass the bill are 'angry and upset' by the Lords' addition of amendments. The Lords has just three sessions remaining to debate the bill, having discussed only half of the 1,200 amendments. Supporters of the assisted dying bill are planning to enlist some 200 MPs to attempt to bring it back into contention this summer, as reported by Sky News.
The bill was proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who came first in a ballot of backbench MPs in September 2024 to bring forward their own draft laws, according to Sky News. Backers of the bill think around 200 MPs would be willing to reintroduce the bill if they come in the top few places in the next ballot, due on 21 May, as reported by Sky News. Government ministers are not allowed to put in for the private members' bill ballot; between 400 and 500 backbench MPs usually enter, according to Sky News.
Rightly, the overwhelming majority of people in our country want their MPs to pass safe, well-developed laws that are watertight and robust. The House of Lords has exposed deep flaws in the assisted dying bill.
If 500 MPs enter the ballot, a supporter has a 92% chance of coming in the top five places needed to have a realistic chance of progressing the bill, as reported by Sky News. As MPs have already passed the bill once, it could clear all Commons stages again quickly if reintroduced, according to Sky News. Even some MPs who voted against the bill last time would now back it because it's seen as 'undemocratic' for the Lords to block it, as reported by Sky News.
More than 100 MPs wrote to Sir Keir Starmer a fortnight ago urging him to stop the Lords from blocking the bill and to give it time to return in the Commons, according to Sky News. Lord Falconer puts the bill's chances of becoming law at 'significantly more than 50%', while Dr Opher puts it at 90%, as reported by Sky News. Labour MP Adam Jogee opposes the bill, saying the public doesn't want to see a 'flawed' bill become law, according to Sky News.
Opponents of legalisation fear it could increase pressure on some vulnerable people to take their own lives. Thirteen cases of suspected assisted dying are being considered by prosecutors in England and Wales, according to the latest data. Encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person is against the law in England and Wales under the Suicide Act 1961.
The CPS has recorded 209 cases referred to it by police as assisted dying between 1 April 2009 and 31 March this year, up from 199 cases by the end of March last year. Of the 209 cases, 131 were not taken forward by prosecutors and 42 cases were withdrawn by police. Across two decades, six cases of encouraging or assisting dying have been successfully prosecuted, and two cases have been charged and acquitted after trial.
Eight cases were referred for prosecution for homicide or other serious crime, rather than the offence of assisted dying. The number of UK residents who had an assisted death at Dignitas rose to 43 in 2025, up from 37 the previous year, and is the second-highest level in two decades. The bill could be brought back in the next parliamentary session if it runs out of time.
The bill would allow terminally ill adults resident in England and Wales for at least 12 months to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.