Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's End of Life Bill Faces Challenges in House of Lords Scrutiny
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a private member's bill introduced in October 2024 by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, proposes to allow adults over 18 with six months or less to live to be helped to die in England and Wales, subject to safeguards.
Scotland is considering a separate assisted-dying bill, which has passed an initial vote at Holyrood and awaits further scrutiny by MSPs.
In the House of Lords, the bill is undergoing detailed line-by-line scrutiny where over 1,000 amendments have been proposed—a record number for a backbench bill—leading to delays in its progress.
For the bill to become law, both Houses of Parliament must agree on the final wording before the current parliamentary session ends in spring 2025; if this does not happen, the bill will fall and would need to restart in a future session.
The government holds a neutral stance on the bill, treating it as a conscience issue, and has not allocated government time for its passage, though the Lords chief whip has added ten extra Friday sessions to allow for extended debate.
Supporters argue the amendments are necessary to protect vulnerable individuals, while critics view many amendments as obstructive. Among contested proposals are requirements that applicants must not have left the country in the last 12 months and that the death could be filmed.
Experts note that although the Parliament Act could theoretically be used to bypass the Lords, doing so would be unprecedented for a private member's bill; the Act was last employed in 2004 to ban fox hunting.
Despite the extra debate time, there is a significant risk the bill may not pass before the session ends, since private member's bills cannot be carried over to the next session if they fail.
Kim Leadbeater has welcomed the detailed scrutiny but described many amendments as unnecessary and sometimes cruel. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has criticized the bill as badly written with gaps, emphasizing its focus on preventing coercion.
