Assisted Suicide around the UK

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill passed its Second Reading in the House of Commons in November 2024. The legislation aims to change the existing law and legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with six months of less to live. So what happens next?

Like any piece of legislation, the Bill must pass through all the stages any parliamentary bill must complete. Having passed Second Reading, it moved to Committee Stage. This is a line-by-line examination of the Bill.

Next up will be Report Stage. This is when the legislation comes back to the whole House of Commons and all MPs can give it further consideration. Further amendments can be put forward. It is up to the government to make time for Report Stage amidst other government business.

Then comes Third Reading. This is the last chance for a debate to take place on the contents of the Bill in the Commons. It normally happens right after Report Stage, on the same day. Debate is usually short and is limited to what is actually in the Bill, rather than debating what might or should have been included. No amendments can be put forward at this stage and MPs must vote on the Bill at the end of the debate.

This time, Third Reading will take on particular importance, as a number of MPs voted in support of the Bill at Second Reading in support of the principle of ‘Assisted Dying’, but saying that they wanted to see changes to it, or else they would not support it at Third Reading.

If it passes, it will go to the House of Lords for its First Reading (formal introduction of the Bill). Once in the Lords, it will have its Second Reading, Committee Stage where further amendments can be made, then Report Stage, and finally, its Third Reading before going back to the Commons again.

We will then enter a period known as ‘ping pong’ when MPs might delete the amendments made in the House of Lords and send the Bill back. This might happen several times over several days.

Once both Houses are agreed, the Bill can receive Royal Assent and become an Act of Parliament. Convention dictates that the Commons takes priority over the Lords.

Earlier this year, Liam McArthur introduced his Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. If successful, this would legalise assisted suicide for anyone aged 16 or over (that is the age you legally become an adult in Scotland), who is diagnosed with a terminal illness and has just six months or less to live.

As part of Stage 1, the legislation is currently being scrutinised by the Health and Sport Committee. They have been taking evidence from a range of stakeholders and will produce a report. They will make a recommendation to MSPs about whether the Scottish Parliament should support the legislation. The Stage 1 debate is where all MSPs have the chance to debate the general principles of the legislation and there will then be a vote on the Bill.

There have been major concerns expressed in Scotland from different groups about the legislation, including people living with disabilities and the Law Society of Scotland. It was at this point in 2015 that the last assisted suicide bill failed to pass after MSPs voted 82-36 against introducing Patrick Hardie’s bill.

If the legislation passes Stage 1, it moves to Stage 2 where amendments can be tabled and debated. Usually, the same committee that scrutinised the Bill at Stage 1 will decide on the amendments and vote on them. Only committee members can vote on amendments at this stage. If amendments are agreed, then a new, amended version of the Bill will be published.

At Stage 3, this new version of the Bill is considered. All MSPs debate it and vote on the proposed amendments. There is then another debate and vote on whether to pass the Bill. If it passes, it is normally sent for Royal Assent after around four weeks.

At the moment, there is no assisted suicide legislation under active consideration at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

However, there have been rumours of a potential Non-Executive Bill (this means a Bill brought forward by an individual Member of the Legislative Assembly) being brought forward.

A new pro-assisted suicide group in Northern Ireland was launched in July 2024. This regional group says it will work for a ‘compassionate assisted dying law in Northern Ireland.’

There is an assisted suicide bill that has already passed some key stages in the Tynwald – the Parliament of the Isle of Man. The Assisted Dying Vill 2023 would allow adults given a prognosis of 12 months of less to live the right to choose an assisted suicide.

In July 2024, the legislation passed its Third Reading and so it now moves to the Legislative Council for consideration. This is the upper Branch of the Tynwald. It is comprised of 8 members elected by the House of Keys (lower Branch) and two ex-officio Members, in addition to the President.

There are different stages this legislation must now go through. It needs to pass the Principles Stage (where the Council debates the overall aims of the Bill). Then there is an optional Evidence Stage, followed by a Clauses Stage (a close, line by line examination of the Bill) and finally, there is the Final Stage.

At each stage, a majority of the Council is needed to progress the legislation. At any point, the Council may refer the legislation to a Select Committee for more detailed consideration.

In May 2024, the State Assembly on Jersey voted to approve plans to allow assisted suicide for those with a terminal illness ‘causing unbearable suffering’. Plans for legalising assisted suicide were already voted on in principle in 2021 and passed. The May 2024 vote was to do with how it would work in practice.

The law is now currently being drafted and this is expected to take a further 10-12 months. A debate will then take place by the end of 2025. If it is successful at this stage, a further 18-month implementation period would begin. The earliest the legislation is expected to come into effect in summer 2027.