MPs reject assisted dying bill for England and Wales

MPs have rejected a fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, voting down proposals that would have allowed some terminally ill adults to seek help to end their lives.

The House of Commons opposed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill by 286 votes to 270 on Friday, a majority of 16. The result ends the bill’s progress in the current parliamentary session and rules out a change in the law in the short term, though supporters said they would try again.

The legislation, brought forward by Labour MP Lauren Edwards, would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death. The process would have required approval from two doctors and an expert panel.

MPs were given a free vote, meaning they voted according to conscience rather than party lines. The government took a neutral stance. Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not vote, having previously described the issue as “a matter for Parliament to decide”. Al Jazeera reported that Burnham said he did not want to “unduly influence the debate”.

The vote followed hours of emotional speeches from MPs on both sides. Labour MP Janet Daby, who had previously supported a similar bill, told the Commons she would vote against this one. She said she had “nightmares about dying and death” after backing the previous measure and added: “I had to wrestle with myself, knowing that I was not entirely comfortable with the decision I had made, and my conscience was not at peace, and I cannot again, in good conscience, vote for the bill.”

Labour MP Claire Hazelgrove supported the proposal, describing her mother’s decision to bring her late-stage terminal illness to an end “on her terms”. Hazelgrove said the “harmful status quo” meant her mother died alone in October last year after living with a rare blood cancer for half her life, and argued that “not all pain can be palliated”.

Opponents said the bill did not contain enough safeguards to protect vulnerable people from coercion and argued that improving palliative care should come first. Conservative MP Martin Vickers said that “if assisted dying is legalised we will be poorer as a society, we will have a crossed a line,” adding that it would change the “relationship between doctor and patient”.

Labour MPs Ashley Dalton, Dame Meg Hillier and Jess Asato, who opposed what they called the “unsafe and unworkable” bill, said in a joint statement: “This is not a moment for celebration, we understand the deep concerns of so many people across the country who have campaigned hard for a change in the law.” They added that “none of the relevant royal medical colleges, professional groups or experts will attest to the safety or workability of this bill” and called for action on the NHS, social care and palliative care before assisted dying is considered.

Supporters reacted with disappointment. Edwards, the MP for Rochester and Strood, said: “Parliament has dropped the ball today. It will be picked up again as it must be, because the law as it stands is simply too cruel and too unjust to be allowed to stand.”

Dame Esther Rantzen, the 86-year-old broadcaster and Childline founder who is terminally ill with cancer, told the BBC it was “so sad that people in this country won’t have the choice” available to terminally ill adults in other countries. “I am sure a change in the law will come,” she said. “I am deeply sad that it won’t come soon enough for many of the people who need it, it’s a tragic day.”

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said “thousands of terminally ill people will continue to suffer against their wishes in their last days and weeks” and said she still believed “law change is inevitable”. The group called the result “a devastating setback for dying people” but said the issue was “not going away”.

Care Not Killing chief executive Gordon Macdonald described the vote as “decisive” and said MPs should now focus on palliative care. “Our current laws protect vulnerable people and [members of Parliament] have rightly said they do not need changing; it’s time to move beyond this debate and fix palliative care,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

A similar bill introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater passed the Commons on June 20, 2025, with a majority of 23, but stalled in the House of Lords after peers tabled more than 1,200 amendments. Leadbeater told the BBC another attempt to change the law could come as soon as next year.