Assisted dying bill returns to Parliament: what it means for doctors

Getty/Halfpoint

By Daniel Pye

As the assisted dying bill returns to Parliament, Doctors.net.uk looks at why the bill is being reintroduced and what is expected of doctors under the proposed legislation.

In April, the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ran out of time after 17 months of debate in Parliament.

It proposed allowing adults who live in England and Wales and have less than six months left to live to request an assisted death. The bill fell in the House of Lords, with not enough time to debate 1,200 amendments before Parliament was prorogued.

But it has been brought back for this session by Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, Lauren Edwards.

What happened with the previous version of the bill?

Leadbeater’s bill was the furthest any attempt to legalise an assisted death for adults with a terminal illness has progressed through the legislative process.

Her bill was treated neutrally by the government. Political parties allowed MPs and peers to vote according to their conscience, which will also be the case for Edwards’ bill.