The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow adults in England and Wales with a prognosis of less than six months to live to be provided with assistance to end their lives, subject to eligibility criteria and conditions. It is a private member’s bill that was introduced in the House of Commons by Kim Leadbeater (Labour MP for Spen Valley). It completed its passage through the Commons in June 2025. Its second reading in the House of Lords is due to take place on 12 September 2025.
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (424KB PDF)
Approximate time to read: 50 minutes.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is a private member’s bill. It was introduced in the House of Commons in October 2024 by Kim Leadbeater (Labour MP for Spen Valley) and completed its passage through the House of Commons on 20 June 2025. It was introduced in the House of Lords on 23 June 2025 and is sponsored in the Lords by Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour).
The bill would establish a system for terminally ill adults in England and Wales to access assistance to end their lives. To receive assistance a person would have to be over 18, have the capacity to make the decision, have a prognosis of less than six months left to live, be resident in England and Wales, be registered with a GP practice in England or Wales, and meet further eligibility criteria. Two doctors would assess each request to ensure that the person met the criteria, including that the person had a “clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life” and that they had reached this decision voluntarily, without coercion or pressure.
If both doctors stated the criteria were met, the request would be referred to an assisted dying review panel consisting of a psychiatrist, a social worker and a senior judge or barrister. The panel would decide if a person was terminally ill and had capacity to make the decision to end their own life, among other things.
Other measures in the bill include establishing a ‘voluntary assisted dying commissioner’; specifying that no one would be under an obligation to participate in the provision of assistance except in an administrative capacity; introducing protections for employees from detriment because of either participating or not participating in providing an assisted death; granting powers for the government to make regulations about substances and devices to be used; setting out provision and commencement in Wales; and prohibiting advertising of assisted dying.
At report stage, 47 amendments, new clauses and schedules were made or added to the bill and there were nine divisions. The bill passed third reading on division by 314 votes to 291.
Image copyright House of Lords 2016 / Photography by Roger Harris.
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (424KB PDF)
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