Plans to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales have failed after a controversial bill ran out of time in the House of Lords.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would have allowed patients with fewer than six months to live to seek an assisted death with medical approval, failed to complete its passage despite earlier backing in the House of Commons.
Supporters claimed the legislation had been derailed by procedural delays, with Labour MP Kim Leadbeater insisting there would be “appetite” to revive it in a future parliamentary session.
But opponents argued the bill collapsed under the weight of its own flaws. More than 1,200 amendments were tabled in the upper chamber, reflecting widespread concern that the safeguards were inadequate.
Critics, including paralympian Baroness Grey-Thompson, warned the proposals were “unsafe and unworkable,” while disability campaigners raised fears that legalising assisted suicide could expose the elderly, sick, and disabled to subtle coercion.
Baroness Campbell of Surbiton said many disabled people were “frightened” by the bill, warning that unequal access to care and social pressure could shape life-and-death decisions in ways that are difficult to detect.
