Is there really a need for a change in the laws surrounding assisted dying?
The laws surrounding euthanasia and the rights of those who are terminally ill vary drastically from country to country, with the UK being part of the majority that rules euthanasia to be illegal. However, the MPs backing of the new proposed Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill could revolutionise the UK’s laws around this hotly contested topic.
What are the laws now and how could they change?
Euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering. Presently, euthanasia is illegal in the UK, with assisting a suicide being punishable by up to 14 years in prison. For the first time since 2015, MPs have voted on a new proposed bill that could legalise it.
The proposed Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was introduced by Backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, would allow patients to make a request to end their life. For such a request to be progressed, they must meet certain criteria, including being over 18 and having the capacity to make such a decision independently. This request would then need to be approved by an ‘Assisted Dying Review Panel’, following the assessment of two medical practitioners and time for reflection.
In the vote following the second reading, which was held on 29th November 2024, MPs were allowed to vote independently in accordance with their own conscience as opposed to conforming with the views of their party. The majority of the votes were for the legalisation of euthanasia - 330 MPs, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, voted in favour of this bill, whilst 275 MPs, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, voted against it.
What are the laws in other parts of the world?
Euthanasia is legal in many European countries, such as Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. Switzerland is unique in the fact that it allows foreigners to receive life-ending treatment; many British nationals spend thousands of pounds to travel to Swiss institutions such as Dignitas to receive treatment. A report by Dignity in Dying, an organisation fighting for changes in laws surrounding euthanasia, found that every 8 days, a British national travels to Dignitas for help with assisted dying. Kim Leadbeater MP addressed this in the Commons, describing how “it is often [a] deeply distressing and very lonely experience, shrouded in secrecy, with people feeling like criminals.”
Why is there a need for change?
Kim Leadbeater, the MP advocating for this bill, emphasised the devastating impact of terminal illness, stating that "no matter how good the palliative care they receive, they endure a horrible, harrowing death—not only dreadful for them as individuals but also deeply traumatic for their families." She spent a lot of time with terminally-ill patients and those working in palliative care when formulating her proposal.
“I’m hearing really harrowing stories from families who have lost loved ones under really traumatic circumstances, and that’s been really hard.”
She also discussed the experiences of Paul Blomfield, an MP whose father ended his own life following a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer. Blomfield has consequently been campaigning for the legalisation of assisted dying, stating that "In changing the law, we would be creating so much improvement for people in their final days and weeks."
What do critics think?
The main criticism is that legalising euthanasia could set a precedent for expanding its use to a wider population. This leads to ethical dilemmas regarding euthanasia being considered as a solution for situations which it was not originally intended to cover. Critics often use Canada’s legalisation of euthanasia as evidence of this idea. Originally, Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) was introduced exclusively to support those who were terminally ill, but has since been expanded to include those experiencing “unbearable suffering” – the Canadian parliament has even expressed potential for the legislation to be expanded to those with mental illnesses.
This is an argument that has even been brought forward by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has expressed concerns that “this approach is both dangerous and sets us in a direction which is even more dangerous, and in every other place where it’s been done, has led to a slippery slope.” However, Leadbeater opposed these ideas, assuring that “This is about terminally ill people. This is not about people with disabilities, it’s not about people with mental health conditions, it’s very much about terminally ill people”, and used Oregon in the United States as an example of somewhere where the laws around euthanasia have not been altered since their implementation almost 30 years ago.
Past attempts to legalise euthanasia in the UK
Whilst this would be a revolutionary change in British legislation, this is not the first time that an MP has tried to introduce a change in the laws surrounding euthanasia. On multiple occasions, including as recently as 2021, MPs have proposed the legalisation of euthanasia, however it has never advanced as far as the current attempt. The most recent attempt which made it to a parliamentary vote was on 16th March 2021, when Lord Forsyth called for an amendment to the Health and Care Bill, which would have resulted in the drafting of an Assisted Dying Bill. However, this was not successful, with 179 voting against it and 145 voting in favour of it.
This is not to say that the support for this development has not been present. Dignity in Dying conducted the largest ever poll on assisted dying in February 2024 and found that “three-quarters of respondents (75%) said that they would support making it lawful for someone to seek assisted dying in the UK, with just 14% against”, and that “of those who had experienced the death of a loved one in the least 10 years, more than four in 10 (43%) said their relative suffered at the end of their life, with a quarter (27%) believing they would have considered assisted dying if it were legal.” These statistics suggest that there is a shift in attitudes towards euthanasia, which could potentially have an impact on the likelihood of its legalisation.
The Bill has now passed the committee stage, and is due to enter the report stage on the 16th May 2025. The Bill will be discussed further and amended before a Third Reading in the House of Commons, at which the current Bill will be debated and voted on. If approved, the Bill will pass to the House of Lords.
By Vinuthi Anand, Student Blog Writer at QMLAC and LLB Law Student.
This blog is for information only and does not constitute legal advice on any matter. While we always aim to ensure that information is correct at the date of posting, the legal position can change, and the blogs will not ordinarily be updated to reflect any subsequent relevant changes. Anyone seeking legal advice on the subject matter should contact a specialist legal representative.