UK lawmakers reject assisted dying bill after surprise Commons reversal

London,UPDATED: Sep 11, 2026 23:08 IST

UK lawmakers on Friday voted down a bill that would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives. After a four-hour debate in the House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected by 286 votes to 270.

The result was seen as surprising because an almost identical bill had passed last year by a margin of 23 votes. The latest vote brings to an end a two-year parliamentary debate on assisted dying, an issue that had previously won backing in the Commons but did not become law after being effectively filibustered in the unelected House of Lords.

The bill proposed allowing adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval from two doctors and an expert panel. The government took a neutral position, so lawmakers voted according to their consciences rather than along party lines.

During the debate, many lawmakers spoke about their own experiences, both in support of and against the proposal. Janet Daby, who had earlier backed the bill but voted against it this time, said she changed her position after having “nightmares”. She said she dreamed of “dying and death” because she had not been “entirely comfortable” with her former position.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not vote, saying he did not want to “unduly influence the debate”. Opponents of the bill described it as unsafe and unworkable, raising concerns about possible coercion of vulnerable people and the lack of safeguards for people with disabilities.

Lawmaker and cancer surgeon Dr Zubir Ahmed also pointed to uncertainty in medical prognosis. “I have to be honest with you,” he said. “When I am asked to prognosticate as to whether someone has six months to live or not, I am as often wrong as I am right.”

The leader of Catholics in England and Wales, Archbishop Richard Moth, called the bill “wrong in principle” and “deeply flawed”. The Church of England’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, also objected to it. Medical colleges, including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, had raised “serious concerns” and said there were “too many unanswered questions about the safeguarding of people with mental illness”.

Supporters of assisted dying, sometimes referred to as assisted suicide, had hoped the bill would bring about the biggest change in UK social policy since abortion was partially legalised in 1967. They said it would help end the practice of people near the end of their lives travelling to countries such as Switzerland for an assisted death.

Lauren Edwards, who reintroduced the bill in the House of Commons, called the result “heartbreaking” but said she believed the issue would win parliamentary approval in future. “Assisted dying will come in this country, as it is already doing all across the world, but not soon enough,” she 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.”

With the bill defeated, the latest effort to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales has ended for now after two years of debate, with supporters and opponents sharply divided over safeguards, medical judgment and the wider principle behind the proposed law.

With PTI Inputs

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