The House of Lords continues to debate the core aims of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill across two days on Friday 12 and Friday 19 September, the second date being within the House of Lords recess period allocated for Party Conferences.  On 11 September 2025, the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution published Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, (HL Paper 177); this stated:

“We draw the attention of the House to the fact that, as a private members’ bill, this Bill did not undergo pre-legislative scrutiny and that impact assessments issued by the Government, which is not the sponsor of the Bill, were issued late during the Commons process. The degree of deliberation, assessment and scrutiny is therefore significantly less than we would expect to see for an equivalent government bill. This is especially concerning given the subject matter of the Bill.

On 17 September, the Hansard Society published the briefing What will happen at Second Reading on Friday 19 September? This notes that on Thursday 18 September, the section on Committee Stage was amended to reflect a new select committee motion tabled by Baroness Berger, as a result of a compromise agreement reached with Lord Falconer. It considers how will the House decide whether to give the Bill a Second Reading? and states “[w]hatever the final text of the question that is put to the House, the procedural effect of voting for or against them will be the same. In each case, if the question is agreed to, the Bill will receive a Second Reading and proceed to the next stage; if the question is not agreed, then the Bill will fall”. The Briefing then details: Will there be a formal vote on the Second Reading decision? and if the Bill is given a Second Reading Committee Stage: what form will it take?

The House of Lords gave a Second Reading (2nd Day) to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The Hansard Society noted:

“The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has cleared another key hurdle: it was given a Second Reading in the House of Lords without a formal vote. But Peers have agreed to set up a special select committee to hear evidence from Ministers, professional bodies and legal experts before the Bill goes any further. That decision pushes the detailed clause-by-clause scrutiny back to mid-November and could shape the Bill’s prospects in unexpected ways. In this episode we explore the procedural twists and political manoeuvring behind that decision”.