What we know about the assisted dying bill

The proposed law to make assisted dying legal in England and Wales has been published.

London, UK. 16 October 2024. MP Kim Leadbeater joins campaigners in favour of legalising assisted dying outside parliament, as the First Reading of the assisted dying bill takes place. Photo credit should read: Matt Crossick/Empics/Alamy Live News
The assisted dying bill introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, pictured, has been published. (Alamy)

The MP who has introduced proposals to make assisted dying legal in England and Wales says the legislation will be the "most robust" in the world.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which is 38 pages long, was published on Monday night and will be debated by MPs on 29 November before an initial vote.

Under the plans, only terminally ill adults given less than six months to live who have a settled wish to end their lives would be eligible.

On Tuesday, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who indicated he has yet to decide on the proposed law, said Labour MPs will be free to vote however they choose.

The Labour MP who introduced the bill, Kim Leadbeater, said: “Throughout the process there are layers and layers of safeguards and protections which I believe will probably make it the most robust piece of legislation in the world.”

Here is what we know about the bill so far, as well as public sentiment on the issue.

Under the proposals, there are several requirements for someone to be deemed eligible for assisted dying.

  • The person must be an adult – aged 18 or older – and be resident in England and Wales and registered with a GP for at least 12 months.

  • They must have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish to end their life, free from coercion or pressure.

  • They must be terminally ill and be expected to die within six months.

  • They must make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die.

  • Two independent doctors must be satisfied the person is eligible, and they can consult a specialist in the person's condition. There must be at least seven days between the two doctors making their assessments.

  • A High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors regarding the application and can question the dying person as well as anyone else they consider appropriate.

  • The dying person must take the prescribed medication to end their life themselves, as no doctor or anyone else is allowed to administer it.

It is thought the shortest timeframe for the process - from first making a declaration to ending a life - would be about a month.

Under the bill, it would be illegal for someone to pressure, coerce or use dishonesty to get someone to make a declaration that they wish to end their life. Anyone found guilty of such actions could face a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Leadbeater said a new law may not come into effect for another two to three years.

Campaigners protesting in support of assisted dying in Westminster earlier this year. (PA)
Campaigners protesting in support of assisted dying in Westminster earlier this year. (PA)

Almost two-thirds of people in England and Wales want assisted dying to be legalised for terminally ill adults, polling has suggested.

The study, by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions group at King’s College London, found that 63% of 2,063 adults polled want assisted dying to be legalised in the next five years. A fifth (20%) are against it, while 17% said they do not take a side or have an opinion on the issue.

The majority (85%) of those who support a law change said people having a less painful or distressing death is a very important reason for their view, while a similar proportion (83%) said giving people more dignity at the end of their life is very important.

But researchers said the polling showed the “moral complexities” people feel when it comes to this controversial issue, with concerns around risks remaining among those who are broadly supportive of legalisation. Of all respondents, 61% said they would be concerned about some people being pressured to have an assisted death if the law was changed.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 21: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Dame Esther Rantzen attends a Service of Thanksgiving for the life and work of Dame Vera Lynn at Westminster Abbey on March 21, 2022 in London, England. Singer Dame Vera Lynn, dubbed a forces' sweetheart during World War II, died in June 2020 aged 103. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Dame Esther Rantzen has welcomed the new assisted dying bill. (Getty Images)

Health secretary Wes Streeting has said he will vote against the bill over concerns about coercion and people feeling a "duty to die", while the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warned the legalisation could lead to a “slippery slope” in terms of who is eligible.

Dame Esther Rantzen, 84, who has terminal cancer, hailed the "wonderful" bill but said it would probably come too late for her if passed into law.

In a statement on Monday, she said that unless her current medication turns out to be “totally miraculous” and extends her life by a few years “there’s no way an assisted dying law can come into force in time for me”.

Campaign group Our Duty Of Care, representing doctors and nurses, has sent a letter to the prime minister arguing it is “impossible for any government to draft assisted suicide laws which include protection from coercion and future expansion”.

The bill will be debated for the first time by MPs on Friday 29 November.

If it is voted through, it will then go to the committee stage, where MPs can table amendments, before it faces further scrutiny and votes in both the Commons and the House of Lords.

Any change in the law could not be agreed until next year at the earliest.

However, it is possible that MPs could vote against it, as they did last time changes to the law were considered in 2015, preventing it going any further.

Where assisted suicide is legal. (Statista)
Where assisted suicide is legal. (Statista)

Dignity in Dying, which is in favour of assisted dying, says 400 million people around the world have legal access to it in some form. It defines assisted dying as "allowing a dying person the choice to control their death if they decide their suffering is unbearable".

Countries where it is legal include Switzerland, 11 states in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Earlier this year, Tracy Hickman, a British woman with terminal cancer who lived in New Zealand and later had an assisted death, told UK politicians: “Look at what New Zealand has done, and do it even better. There is a lot of focus on the right to life, but people should have the right to a peaceful, gentle death.”