Britain · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
U.K. MPs Reject Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in England and Wales
MPs rejected legislation to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. Final vote defeated bill 286 to 270.
Whether defeat was Lords procedure or substantive safety.
7 of 8 outlets skipped it: opponents cite risk of coercion and flawed safeguards..
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Dignity in Dying
“endorsed the wrecking tactics of a handful of peers who stopped Kim Leadbeater’s Bill being considered properly”Read the original ↗
Dignity in Dying frames defeat as Lords 'wrecking tactics', while the BBC reports it as a process issue rather than safety.
Commons Rejects Assisted Dying
U.K. lawmakers in the House of Commons rejected the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in England and Wales, voting 286 to 270 against the measure after an impassioned debate.
“Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected 286 to 270.”
The bill would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval of two doctors and an expert panel.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not vote because he said he did not want to “unduly influence the debate,” while the government took a neutral stance so lawmakers voted according to their consciences rather than party lines.
The vote ended a two-year debate in Parliament about assisted dying, with supporters and opponents both citing the bill’s safeguards and the role of the unelected House of Lords in blocking earlier attempts.
Campaigners Trade Quotes
Dignity in Dying vowed to continue its fight after the Commons vote, with its Chief Executive Sarah Wootton saying it was “a devastating setback for dying people – but this is not going away.”
Wootton argued the House of Commons had “endorsed the wrecking tactics of a handful of peers who stopped Kim Leadbeater’s Bill being considered properly in the first place,” and she said the defeat would be “devastating for dying people and their families.”
Opponents celebrated the result, with Care Not Killing chief executive Gordon Macdonald saying “lawmakers had recognised concerns that changing the law could put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives prematurely.”
Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who introduced the bill, called the outcome “hugely disappointing” and said it was “not for me but for the many thousands of terminally ill people and their loved ones who were given hope when the Commons voted for this Bill last year.”
What Happens Next
The defeat means the current law remains unchanged, with terminally ill people continuing to suffer against their wishes, travel abroad for an assisted death, or take matters into their own hands behind closed doors.
“Thousands of terminally ill people will continue to suffer against their wishes”
Dignity in Dying said the bill’s defeat leaves “law change on assisted dying remains a question of when, not if,” and it argued the Commons had rejected “the opportunity to provide those dying people with the choice and protections they want.”D
The Independent reported that another MP could try to bring a similar Bill on the issue next year, but would have to start the whole process again from scratch because they would not be able to use rarely-employed provisions in the Parliament Acts to prevent the House of Lords from blocking it.
Dignity in Dying also framed the bill as seeking to give terminally ill, mentally competent adults in their final six months of life the choice of an assisted death alongside access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care, and it said the question now is how many dying Britons will “have to suffer needlessly before then.”D