UK Lawmakers Set for Fresh Commons Vote on Assisted Dying Bill

British lawmakers will vote again on Friday on whether to advance legislation that would permit terminally ill adults in England and Wales to end their lives with medical assistance.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is back before the House of Commons after it ran out of time when the previous parliamentary session closed in the spring. Under Westminster rules, a bill can only become law if it is debated and voted on within a single session, and each five-year parliamentary term is divided into sessions set by the government.

The earlier attempt to pass the legislation was effectively blocked in the House of Lords, the unelected revising chamber, which prevented the elected Commons from proceeding. The bill's supporters have framed the renewed vote as a question of which chamber ultimately decides the laws governing the country.

Under the proposed law, adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live could apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel. Because the bill provides for a four-year implementation period, assisted dying would not be available in the two nations until 2031 at the earliest.

The vote is expected to be tight. The bill cleared two Commons votes in 2024 and 2025, but the majority in favour fell to 23 in the second ballot from 55 in the first. The government has adopted a neutral position, treating the issue as a matter of conscience for individual lawmakers.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was not in Parliament during the earlier votes, has said he will not take part so as not to exert undue influence on the debate. His predecessor, Keir Starmer, who has since left Parliament, supported the bill.

Lauren Edwards, the lawmaker steering the legislation through the Commons, urged colleagues to send the revised but largely unchanged bill back to the Lords so that peers can complete their scrutiny. "We did ours," she said, adding that members were being asked to consider who ultimately decides the laws that govern the nations.

Supporters of what is commonly called assisted dying hope it would represent the biggest shift in UK social policy since abortion was partially legalised in 1967, and that it would end the practice of people travelling abroad, including to Switzerland, for an assisted death.

Opponents have described the bill as unsafe and unworkable, pointing to concerns about the possible coercion of vulnerable people and inadequate safeguards for those with disabilities. Zubir Ahmed, a lawmaker and cancer surgeon, said he was as often wrong as right when asked to predict whether a patient had six months to live.

Assisted suicide, in which patients take lethal medication prescribed by a doctor, is legal in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, as well as parts of the United States, with qualifying rules varying by jurisdiction. In July, French lawmakers backed a similar bill for adults with incurable illnesses, but it has not become law pending a review of its compliance with the French Constitution.