MPs have rejected the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in a Commons vote, with 286 voting against and 270 in favour. The defeat is a significant setback for campaigners who have long sought to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.
The bill, which was brought back to the Commons after being blocked in the Lords, would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for help to end their own life, subject to safeguards.
MPs who opposed the bill
Three MPs who opposed the bill were Ashley Dalton, Meg Hillier and Jess Asato. In a joint statement, they said: “MPs have voted against this bill because it wasn’t an abstract debate but a decision about a real bill that was unsafe and unworkable.”
They added: “But this is not a moment for celebration, we understand the deep concerns of so many people across the country who have campaigned hard for a change in the law.”
Bill's sponsor vows to continue fight
The bill was re-introduced by Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who opened the debate by stressing it would give adults “autonomy and dignity at the end of their lives”. After the vote, she said: “This is a hugely disappointing result – not for me but for the many thousands of terminally ill people and their loved ones who were given hope when the Commons voted for this Bill last year.”
She added: “The objections raised today were not about the principle of assisted dying but about parliamentary process. The public, who strongly support a change in the law, will not understand why that couldn’t happen because a minority in the House of Lords used procedural devices to block it and MPs baulked at insisting that they do their job.”
Esther Rantzen reacts
Esther Rantzen, who has terminal cancer, spoke to the BBC via her daughter's mobile phone. The 86-year-old said: “I’m so sad that people in this country won’t have the choice [that] so many terminally ill adults have in other countries.”
She added: “I am sure a change in the law will come. I am deeply sad that it won't come soon enough for many of the people who need it. It’s a tragic day.”
