The assisted dying Bill has run out of time – but could still become law. Here’s how

MPs now face calls to decide the future of the long-running and divisive debate over assisted dying, as a legislative attempt to change the law will officially fail on Friday.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which has been tabled in Parliament for the last year and a half, is expected to fall without a vote at the end of debate in the House of Lords, making it its last scheduled sitting before the end of this session.

Colleagues who support assisted dying shared their “regret” over the bill’s collapse, insisting that Parliament “must reach a decision on choice at the end of life as soon as possible”.

But opponents praised the House of Lords for “highlighting the fatal flaws in this dangerous and ill-conceived bill”.

We look at how we got to this point and what the future might hold.

What is the Westminster assisted dying bill?

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to apply for assisted dying, subject to approval by a panel including two doctors and a social worker, senior legal expert and psychiatrist.

What’s happening with the bill now?

Friday 24 April is the last day listed for consideration of the bill at committee stage in the House of Lords.

At this stage of the parliamentary process, it is the 14th day of the line-by-line review of the precedents in the upper house.

The bill was debated in the House of Lords for two days in September, during what is known as the second reading.

How did we get here?

The bill was first introduced to the House of Commons as a background, or so-called private member’s bill (PMB), by Labor MP Kim Leadbeater in October 2024.

It passed its first House of Commons hurdle, known as the second reading, in November 2024, with 330 MPs voting in favor and 275 MPs against (a majority of 55).

Although it was read a third time in the House of Commons in June 2025, the majority in support was reduced to 23; While 314 MPs voted for the law, 291 MPs opposed the law.

At this stage fourteen MPs changed from voting in favor to voting against; some argued that removing previously promised Supreme Court judge protections “significantly weakens” the proposals.

What happened to the bill in the Lords?

As with other formal Government legislation, without the time allocated, the PMB’s chances of completing all parliamentary stages are reduced and it may become more vulnerable to any delays.

More than 1,000 proposed amendments, believed to be a record high number for a piece of replacement legislation, were tabled in the Lords Bill when it reached committee stage.

As the legislation moves slowly through the upper chamber, supporters have repeatedly accused some of their colleagues of wasting time and attempting to engage in fraud or “talking.”

But opponents said they were doing their duty to review the legislation, which they said was unsafe and needed to be strengthened.

Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen, who has terminal cancer and is a strong advocate for change, urged her colleagues not to “sabotage democracy”.

Traditionally, the House of Lords, as an unelected house, does not normally block laws passed by a government whose plans have been approved by voters.

But as a background bill, with the current Government saying it is neutral on assisted dying, some members may have felt freer to oppose and block its passage through the House of Lords, especially given the smaller majority with which it eventually cleared the Commons.

This is the furthest such legislation on assisted dying has progressed in the Westminster Parliament.

What is expected to happen on Friday?

Members of the group will meet in the final session as usual to discuss the various changes proposed in the Bill.

The upper house usually meets at 3pm on Friday sessions, but as the committee stage progressed and due to fears the Bill would expire, sessions were extended until 6pm to make room for further debate.

Since there is no other session day planned, the Bill is expected to become law at the end of Friday’s session.

Will there be a vote?

Although unknown, voting at the committee stage is unusual; So-called splits are usually made over changes to be made to a Bill later in what is known as the report stage.

Former justice minister Lord Charlie Falconer, who sponsored the bill in the House of Lords, said a symbolic vote could be held but he did not expect that to happen.

He said he expected the bill “to die without any decision being made.”

Is this the end of the road to assisted dying in England and Wales?

For this session of Parliament, yes.

But earlier this year, as the risk of expiration grew, supporters of the Bill said the Parliament Act could be invoked to override objections from peers.

The rarely used legislation allows Bills supported by the Commons in two successive sittings but rejected by peers to become law without the Lords’ approval, and supporters have said they are confident the Act will be implemented if the Bill is passed a second time.

Lord Falconer has previously said it is “really important” for Parliament to resolve the issue and suggested the bill could be approved “sometime in the spring of 2027” if an Act of Parliament was to be used.

Supporters of the assisted dying bill say there is precedent for the Act being used in relation to so-called “issues of conscience” and that seven bills have been passed using powers under section 2 of the act, including the Hunting Act 2004.

So what could happen next?

When the next parliamentary session begins, following the King’s Speech on 13 May, when the Government will set the legislative agenda for the coming year, MPs will be able to propose a new set of PMBs.

A vote was held to decide whose PMBs would be discussed first, and Ms Leadbeater once again confirmed her intention to take part in the vote.

In March, Times The newspaper reported that supporters said there were “lots” of backbenchers prepared to revive the issue after the next session begins.

But dozens of her colleagues have also called on MPs not to push through Parliament for assisted dying legislation after May’s King’s Speech.

Peers warned that changing the law from the backbenches using PMB was “the wrong vehicle for change of this scale and sensitivity”.

Labor Baroness Luciana Berger, who signed the letter, said the bill would fall “because supporters refuse to engage with its major flaws” and described it as “unsafe and unworkable”, adding that it presented “a danger to vulnerable people and a huge risk to our NHS”.