Where are we now?

 
Assisted dying remains unlawful in England and Wales. Despite two recent attempts to change the law at Westminster, neither resulted in legislation and there is currently no Bill before the UK Parliament seeking to legalise assisted dying.
 
The position is different in the Crown Dependencies. Jersey has passed legislation to introduce assisted dying, which received Royal Assent in July 2026 and is expected to come into force in late 2027. The Isle of Man has also passed an Assisted Dying Bill through Tynwald, although it has not yet received Royal Assent (as of September 2026).
 
The question of assisted dying has nevertheless received considerable attention at Westminster in recent years, most significantly through two successive Private Members' Bills.
 
 

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024–26

 
In October 2024, Kim Leadbeater MP introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposed allowing some terminally ill adults in England and Wales, subject to eligibility criteria and safeguards, to request assistance to end their own life.
 
MPs voted at Second Reading in November 2024 for the Bill to proceed to detailed scrutiny. It subsequently received extensive consideration and amendment during its passage through the House of Commons.
 
The version eventually approved by the Commons would have applied to adults aged 18 and over who had been ordinarily resident in England and Wales for at least 12 months, were registered as a patient with a GP practice in England or Wales, had the mental capacity to make the decision, and were terminally ill and expected to die within six months.
 
A person seeking an assisted death would have needed to have a clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life and to have reached that decision voluntarily, without coercion or pressure.
 
The proposed process included:

• assessment by two doctors, acting independently, to establish whether the eligibility criteria had been met;
• a requirement that the person was informed about their diagnosis and prognosis and the treatment, palliative, hospice and other care available to them;
• referral, where both doctors were satisfied, to a multidisciplinary Assisted Dying Review Panel;
• periods for reflection during the process;
• further confirmation by the person that they wished to proceed;
• provision for healthcare professionals to choose whether or not to participate in providing assistance; and
• a requirement that the person ultimately took the approved substance themselves rather than it being administered by another person.

 
The Bill also included provisions relating to monitoring and oversight, offences intended to protect people from coercion, dishonesty or pressure, and arrangements for reviewing the operation of the legislation had it become law.
 
Following Committee and Report stages, the House of Commons gave the Bill its final approval at Third Reading on 20 June 2025, by 314 votes to 291.
 
The Bill then moved to the House of Lords. Peers agreed that it should proceed to detailed scrutiny at Second Reading in September 2025. During its Committee Stage, more than 1,000 amendments were proposed and fourteen days were scheduled for consideration of the Bill. 
 
Despite this extensive scrutiny, the Lords did not complete Committee Stage before the end of the parliamentary session in April 2026. The Bill therefore ran out of parliamentary time, fell at the end of the session and did not become law.
 
 

A second attempt in 2026

 
On 17 June 2026, Lauren Edwards MP introduced a new Private Member's Bill with the same title.
 
The new Bill closely followed the version of Kim Leadbeater's Bill which had previously been approved by the House of Commons, largely reproducing its eligibility criteria, safeguards and proposed process.
 
There was an important constitutional reason for this close relationship. Under certain circumstances, the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 can enable legislation passed by the House of Commons in successive parliamentary sessions ultimately to become law without the agreement of the House of Lords.
 
By introducing substantially the same legislation again, the possibility remained that the Parliament Acts might become relevant later in the parliamentary process, should the new Bill once again be approved by the Commons but not by the Lords.
 
However, the new Bill did not make it beyond its first substantive Commons vote.
At Second Reading on 11 September 2026, MPs voted by 286 votes to 270 against allowing the Bill to proceed to further scrutiny. The Bill therefore fell at Second Reading and will make no further progress.
 
 

Where does this leave the debate?

 
The defeat of the second Bill means that neither of the recent attempts to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales has resulted in a change in the law. With no further legislation currently before Parliament, a change in the law at Westminster now appears unlikely in the immediate future.
 
However, the debate surrounding assisted dying is unlikely to disappear. The issue has returned to Parliament on a number of occasions, and recent debates have demonstrated the depth of conviction held by those on different sides of the question.
 
Many of the profound ethical, theological, pastoral and practical questions raised by assisted dying also remain unchanged.
 
These include questions about the sanctity and value of human life; compassion and the relief of suffering; personal autonomy; the protection of people who may be vulnerable to coercion or pressure; access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care; the responsibilities and conscience of healthcare professionals; and what it means for Christians and churches to accompany people faithfully through suffering and towards death.
 
Baptists have reached different conclusions about how these convictions should shape the law. Our resources are therefore intended to help churches and individuals engage thoughtfully, prayerfully and faithfully with an exceptionally difficult issue.