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2mo ago

Assisted Dying Bill Falls After House of Lords Runs Out of Time

Supporters plan a fresh bid next session with the rare Parliament Act in play.

A campaigner holds a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
A campaigner holds a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Overview

  • The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which ran out of time Friday in the House of Lords, has fallen for this parliamentary session without a vote.
  • Peers tabled more than 1,200 amendments during 14 days of committee scrutiny, which supporters called a filibuster and opponents defended as essential work to fix safety gaps.
  • The proposal would have allowed terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to request an assisted death with approval from two doctors and an expert panel, with patients required to self‑administer the life‑ending medication.
  • Sponsor Kim Leadbeater said she will seek to reintroduce the measure through the private members’ bill ballot in the next session, and campaigners signaled they could try to use the Parliament Act if the Commons passes the bill again.
  • Campaigners including Dame Esther Rantzen said the delay harms dying people, palliative‑care groups urged faster improvements to end‑of‑life services, and other jurisdictions offer contrast as Jersey and the Isle of Man move ahead while Scotland rejected a similar plan.