On Friday 20 June 2025, the House of Commons gave the Third Reading to the Private Member’s Bill, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, by 314 votes to 291; it had its first reading in the House of Lords on 23 June but the date of the second reading is yet to be announced. This post considers three aspects of the Bill: i] the events leading to Friday’s vote; ii] the responses of groups; and iii] the next stages of the Bill.
Assisted Dying (or assisted suicide[1]) has been a frequent topic of blog posts on L&RUK, the Index to which was updated following the Commons vote on 20 June. This traces parliamentary and other considerations in the period 2012 to the present. Before 2012 there were five attempts to modify the provisions of the Suicide Act 1961: Lord Joffe’s Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, introduced in 2004; two separate amendments by Patricia Hewitt and by Lord Falconer to the Coroners and Justice Bill 2008-09; Dame Joan Ruddock’s unsuccessfully attempt to secure a government consultation on putting the DPP’s Guidance on a statutory basis during a backbench debate on 27 March 2012; and Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill [HL] 2013-14 which received its first reading on 15 May 2013 but no date was set for its second reading.
In 2014, prompted by media speculation that assisted suicide had “moved a step closer”, we suggested that whilst “closer”, it was not necessarily “significantly closer”, and it was quite unlikely that it would be legal “in months”. As to the possible of success of an Assisted Suicide Bill, we observed (not for the last time) that this would be strongly lobbied by both those for and against its introduction, but that the issue was unlikely to go away.
Noting that “there have been several legislative and non-legislative debates on the issue in recent years, particularly in the Lords”, the House of Commons Research Briefing, The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25, (22 November 2024) stated[2]:
“The most significant Commons debate and vote on the law was in September 2015 when, on a free vote, the Commons voted against giving the Assisted Dying (No 2) Bill 2015 (a private member’s bill introduced by Rob Marris MP, Labour) a second reading by 330 votes to 118.
During the 2024-25 parliamentary session, Lord Falconer (Labour) introduced a private Members’ bill, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill [HL], in the House of Lords on 26 July 2024. A second reading date has not been scheduled. Lord Falconer has said on X (formerly Twitter) that he will not proceed with his bill now that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has a second reading date in the Commons.”
In our review of the debate, Assisted Dying Bill defeated by substantial majority, we concluded “[d]espite Friday’s significant defeat of Rob Marris’ Private Member’s Bill, we believe that there will be continued pressure for the introduction of measures to legalise assisted suicide”.
Reactions to the vote on 20 June 2025
Writing for the Religion Media Centre, Ruth Peacock reviewed the Reaction to Assisted Dying Bill vote from the point of view of a number of religious groups, other opponents to the Bill and its supporters. Noting the reaction from the Catholic Church in England & Wales, she said “The Bishops of England and Wales have been consistent and outspoken in their opposition to the legalisation of assisted suicide, and we are shocked and disappointed that MPs have voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill…”. In addition, Cardinal Vincent Nichols had warned that Catholic hospices and homes may close.
Church of England bishops have consistently opposed assisted dying legislation, and as we reported, the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullaly, lead bishop for health and social care, had issued the Press Release, “Reduced majority for assisted suicide Bill reflects mounting safety concerns – Bishop of London“.
The Muslim Council of Britain stated: “The Assisted Dying Bill risks pressuring vulnerable people to end their lives and diverting resources from palliative care. The Muslim Council of Britain urges the House of Lords to reflect on the serious risks”; and the Sikh Council of Britain had issued a statement saying:
“The Sikh Council UK expresses serious concern regarding the recent vote in Parliament to support legislation that would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. While we recognise the complexity of end of life care and the importance of compassionate medical support, we believe this bill raises urgent moral, spiritual and social risks, particularly for vulnerable communities including the elderly, disabled and people of colour… The Sikh community believes in seva (selfless service) and we are called to support the sick, elderly and dying with compassion, not convenience.” [3].
The Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, John Sherrington, lead bishop for life issues in England and Wales, expressed his opposition on BBC Radio 4, and the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha de Cordova, also expressed her disappointment on BlueSky.
In addition to the accounts of opposition from Giles Fraser, Danny Kruger, Tim Farron and others, Iain Duncan Smith observed:
“this isn’t about the principle – we had that debate at second reading. Today is what we are passing on to the Lords – is it workable. Simply cannot see that we should in this House pass this piece of legislation in vague hope they’ll do better than us”.
Diane Abbott, Mother of the House, commented:
“This may be the most fateful bill that we discuss this Parliament. It is literally a matter of life and death. What could be more unjust than to lose your life to appallingly drafted legislation? I would not put my life in the hands of a panel of officials”
Nevertheless, the vote was welcomed by Dignity in Dying UK, Humanists UK, and Kim Leadbeater, MP who introduced the bill into the Commons.
House of Lords, Royal Assent and implementation
House of Lords
An earlier post reported the comments of Professor Mark Elliott, who noted in his blog that “[a]ny argument that it would be undemocratic or otherwise constitutionally suspect for the Lords to do anything other than rubber-stamping the Bill would be wide of the mark”. A similar conclusion may be drawn from the Institute for Government’s “explainer”, What are the next stages for Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill, which follows the progress of the Bill. These reviews indicate that while in the House of Lords the Bill will follow the same legislative stages as in the Commons, there are key differences, some of which indicate that it is unlikely that it will be back in the Commons before the summer recess. The “explainer” states:
“The House of Lords has control over its own timetable and is not restricted to Fridays for considering PMBs. However, the Lords’ timetable is very busy with government legislation and this will impact how much time it can give to the bill. The Lords adheres more strictly to guidelines for minimum intervals between bill stages, for example a minimum of 14 days between second reading and committee stage.
Unlike in the Commons, amendments are not selected by the Lord Speaker – the House debates and decides on every amendment so we may see some amendments not debated in the Commons reintroduced, and the process may take much longer. A further difference is that there is a delegated powers and regulatory reform committee that reports on every bill before the Lords – including private Member’s bills (PMBs). This is usually before committee stage. The amendments in the Commons mean there are a lot of delegated powers in the bill”.
This raises the issue of timing since, unlike government bills, a PMB cannot be carried over into the next session, although the Government may announce that the parliamentary session will be extended beyond the usual year; it would then timetable further Friday sittings for PMBs to be considered. The present 2024-25 session commenced 9 July 2024, and currently the last scheduled date that the Commons could consider a PMB in the 2024-25 session is Friday 11 July 2025.
Royal Assent and implementation
If both Houses approve the Bill, it will be sent for Royal Assent; the Monarch formally signifies his Assent and it will become an Act. However, as currently drafted, the Act’s main provisions would not come into effect immediately but up to four years after Royal Assent, or earlier if determined by the Health Secretary, during which further policy development would be needed.
Notes
[1] House of Commons Research Briefing The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 notes: “There is no consensus on which terminology to use when debating the issue of whether people should be legally permitted to seek assistance with ending their own lives. Consequently, a range of terms are used, principally “Assisted Suicide” and “Assisted Dying”, and the choice of term often reflects underlying views on the debate.
[2] At reference 30: section 4 of the Library briefing on The law on assisted suicide.
[3] Both statement were posted on X/Twitter here and here.