The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in October 2024 after she won a backbench ballot, will run out of time on Friday, 13 May 2025, and will not become law in the current parliamentary session, according to multiple reports. The bill was passed by the House of Commons on 20 June 2025 with a majority of 23 votes, with 314 in favour and 291 against, as reported by several major media outlets. More than 1,200 amendments were tabled in the House of Lords, which is believed to be a record for a backbench bill, according to five sources.
The bill would have given terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live the option of an assisted death, subject to safeguards, according to four major media reports. The safeguards require two doctors to independently confirm eligibility, a seven-day reflection period between assessments, and a 14-day reflection period after an expert panel decision, as reported by major media. These provisions were designed to ensure that only those who are genuinely terminally ill and mentally competent could access assisted dying, with multiple layers of oversight.
I'm terminally ill with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. I've actually lived past my prognosis which was about three years. I'm now doing about four in a bit so I'm doing well to be here. But I'm not going to get better, I am going to die. I have seen loved ones die of cancer and I know what potentially lies ahead of me and it absolutely scares me to death. I am absolutely... petrified. It's a fear you carry around with you all the time. Most people would think of me as a positive person but it's a fear that's with you, it's like a weight. So even if the bill is brought back in the next session through the Parliament Act and even if it gets through in a year, it is going to be five years before it's available. So from my point of view... It's not going to be available for me. So what it means for me is potentially going to Switzerland or I will take matters into my own hands and do what a fellow campaigner did and refuse fluids, food and...
Public support for assisted dying remains strong, according to a poll by MHP Group and Cambridge University's Political Psychology Lab, which found 75% support, with 14% opposed. Support is strongest among Conservative voters, with 83% in favour, the same poll found. A majority of people of almost all faiths support assisted dying, including 68% of Christians; Muslims are the only faith group where more oppose (48%) than support (25%), according to the poll. Nick Hoile, senior director at MHP Health, said in a press release: 'Support for assisted dying is often portrayed by politicians as either being a controversial opinion, or an opinion that is associated with the liberal Left. This study shows that both of those beliefs are untrue. The public strongly support assisted dying…some of that support is coming from places that you might not expect. The party whose supporters are the most likely to support a change in the law is the Conservative Party.' Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said in a press release: 'There is strong, consistent support for change across political parties, including among Conservative and Reform voters, as well as among many people of faith. When three quarters of the public support giving terminally ill people choice, the question is no longer whether the country is ready, but whether Parliament is willing to act. It is unacceptable that a small number of peers have been able to filibuster and stall a bill backed by MPs and the public alike. The Government must now step in, allocate time in the next session, and ensure this legislation reaches a final decision.'
The Crown Prosecution Service has recorded 209 cases of suspected assisted dying referred by police between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2025, according to CPS data reported by major media. Of those, 131 were not taken forward by prosecutors, 42 were withdrawn by police, and six resulted in successful prosecutions, the CPS said. These figures highlight the current legal context, where assisting a suicide is a criminal offence under the Suicide Act 1961, but prosecutions are rare and subject to the discretion of the CPS.
How dare these ten disgraced peers look society in the face and say they care about dying people, they should hang their heads in shame. How dare they put their belief systems above the care and compassion that should be shown to people who have been promised an agonising death by their diseases. They have cost our country not only humanity but also millions of pounds in the games they are playing. The Lords have played these games before, they played it with the Hunting Act. Just recently in 2022, the parliament act had to be brought in because the Lords refused to make it illegal to bring back hunting trophies from countries like Africa.
Campaigners plan to reintroduce the bill in the next parliamentary session via the private members' bill ballot, with around 200 MPs willing to support it, according to three major media reports. The Parliament Acts could be used to pass the bill without Lords approval if it passes the Commons again in two successive sessions, according to two major media reports. Labour peer Charlie Falconer, who is shepherding the bill through the Lords, told wire reports: 'The strategy is to come high up in the private members bill ballot.' Dr Simon Opher, a Labour MP and key backer of the bill, told wire reports: 'The idea is we all support that person to take Kim [Leadbeater]'s bill through again.' He added: 'As it is a private members' bill, the whole committee could be supporters of the legislation, so the committee stage would only last a few hours.' Falconer also said: 'There's very little appetite for a long, drawn-out debate. There would be appetite for one day of decisive votes.'
Reactions from campaigners and terminally ill individuals have been strong. Four terminally ill women stood on plinths in Parliament Square to protest the bill's stalling, vowing to 'fight on', according to major media reports. Dame Esther Rantzen, the former broadcaster and assisted dying campaigner, accused the Lords of 'absolute blatant sabotage' by tabling 1,200 amendments to block the bill, according to wire reports. She said: 'This is a handful of peers putting down 1,200 amendments not to scrutinise the bill, which is their job, but to block it.' According to Daily Mirror - Main, Louise Shackleton, whose husband died at Dignitas, said peers 'should hang their heads in shame' for blocking the bill. According to Daily Mirror - News, Pamela Fisher, a terminally ill campaigner, described her fear of a painful death and said the bill's delay means it will not be available for her, forcing her to consider going to Switzerland or taking matters into her own hands.
This is a handful of peers putting down 1,200 amendments not to scrutinise the bill, which is their job, but to block it.
The bill covers England and Wales only; a Scottish version was rejected on 17 March 2025, while Jersey and the Isle of Man have passed their own laws, according to major media reports. This patchwork of legislation across the UK and Crown Dependencies reflects differing approaches to assisted dying, with some jurisdictions moving ahead while others remain stalled.
Opponents of the bill argue it lacks safeguards and that debates in the Lords have exposed further problems, according to major media reports. Labour MP Adam Jogee, who opposes the bill, said in wire reports: '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.' Backers of the bill accuse opponents of using 'delaying tactics' and 'democratic vandalism', according to backers quoted by major media. The dispute over whether the Lords' scrutiny was legitimate or obstructive is central to the debate: opponents argue the bill is unsafe and needs more work, while supporters claim the Lords are blocking it unfairly. The outcome will determine whether the bill should be reintroduced as-is or amended. Care Not Killing, a campaign group opposed to assisted dying, said in a press release: 'The political priority must be to give patients a genuine choice through world-class hospice care, not turning doctors into executioners because fixing palliative care is too difficult and costly.'
Support for assisted dying is often portrayed by politicians as either being a controversial opinion, or an opinion that is associated with the liberal Left. This study shows that both of those beliefs are untrue. The public strongly support assisted dying…some of that support is coming from places that you might not expect. The party whose supporters are the most likely to support a change in the law is the Conservative Party.
Several unknowns remain. Will the bill be successfully reintroduced in the next parliamentary session via the private members' bill ballot? If reintroduced, will the Parliament Acts be invoked to bypass the Lords, and would that succeed? What specific amendments did the Lords propose, and which were considered 'filibustering' versus legitimate scrutiny? How will the government respond to calls to allocate time for the bill in the next session? The exact timeline for the bill's potential return is uncertain, given the King's Speech on 13 May and the private members' bill ballot on 21 May. Kim Leadbeater, the bill's sponsor, said in wire reports: 'We don't want to get to that stage, we want this to go through the normal legislative process.'
There is strong, consistent support for change across political parties, including among Conservative and Reform voters, as well as among many people of faith. When three quarters of the public support giving terminally ill people choice, the question is no longer whether the country is ready, but whether Parliament is willing to act. It is unacceptable that a small number of peers have been able to filibuster and stall a bill backed by MPs and the public alike. The Government must now step in, allocate time in the next session, and ensure this legislation reaches a final decision.
The strategy is to come high up in the private members bill ballot.
The idea is we all support that person to take Kim [Leadbeater]'s bill through again.
As it is a private members' bill, the whole committee could be supporters of the legislation, so the committee stage would only last a few hours.
There's very little appetite for a long, drawn-out debate. There would be appetite for one day of decisive votes.
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.
86% of the British public want the bill to return in the next session – myself and a group of MPs will do everything we can to make this a reality and invoke the Parliament Act.
We don't want to get to that stage, we want this to go through the normal legislative process.
The political priority must be to give patients a genuine choice through world-class hospice care, not turning doctors into executioners because fixing palliative care is too difficult and costly. As we have repeatedly said, we urgently need...