Plans to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales are in serious jeopardy, with supporters warning that the proposed law could be derailed in the House of Lords. The legislation faces a critical battle against the parliamentary clock after peers opposed to the move tabled more than 1,000 amendments, a tactic critics have labelled as deliberate obstruction.
A Race Against Time in the Lords
The Bill's sponsor, Labour peer Lord Falconer of Thornton, issued a stark warning that the legislation is set to 'fail through lack of time'. He raised the alarm ahead of the Lords reconvening on Friday to continue their detailed, line-by-line scrutiny of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Lord Falconer, a former Cabinet minister, tabled a motion on Thursday requesting 'further time' for the upper chamber to complete its work. He revealed that despite 32 hours already spent on scrutiny, with another 50 scheduled, the pace has been glacial. In about 17 hours of committee time, peers have considered only 10 of approximately 84 groups of amendments.
'If we continue at the rate we are going, this House will fail to complete the process of scrutiny,' Lord Falconer stated. 'We will reach no conclusions on the Bill... Instead, the Bill will fail through lack of time.'
Scrutiny or Sabotage?
Peers who oppose the assisted dying bill have been accused of time-wasting to sabotage its progress. However, critics of the legislation argue that major changes are essential to fill what they call 'massive gaps' in a 'badly-written' and currently unsafe proposal.
A source close to concerned peers countered: 'This shows that this Bill is in such a poor state that it needs an extraordinary amount of time for the Lords to do their job of scrutinising these new laws properly.' They emphasised that scrutiny should not be conflated with obstruction, especially on matters of life and death.
High-profile campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen, who has stage four lung cancer, has repeatedly urged the Lords not to block the bill, cautioning that 'scrutiny must not tip into sabotage'.
The Path Forward and Key Provisions
Peers later backed Lord Falconer's non-binding motion for extra time. However, Labour's chief whip in the Lords, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, noted that as the Government is neutral, he could not guarantee further Government time for the bill. He promised 'urgent discussions' to find a way forward.
The Bill must secure approval from both Houses and receive Royal Assent before the current parliamentary session ends in the spring. It was narrowly approved by MPs in the Commons in June last year and received an unopposed second reading in the Lords in September.
If passed, the law would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with a prognosis of fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death. This would be subject to stringent approvals, including assessments by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, a senior legal figure, and a psychiatrist.
Key debates in the Lords have centred on potential amendments, such as implementing stronger assessments for younger applicants and adding further safeguards to prevent 'death tourism'. With the window for passage closing rapidly, the fate of this deeply divisive and historic legislation now hangs in the balance.
