British MPs reject bill to legalize assisted dying

LONDON — British MPs threw out a bill legalizing assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales Friday.

In a narrow vote, MPs rejected the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill's second reading by 286 to 270.

The decision was a marked contrast to a near identical bill by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, which received two votes of support from MPs in 2024 and 2025. The legislation failed to become law after running out of time in the unelected House of Lords earlier this year.

The bill, introduced by backbench Labour MP Lauren Edwards, would have legalized assisted dying for adults aged 18 or over who are judged by two doctors as expected to die within six months.

It will now make no further progress and follows members of the Scottish Parliament rejecting similar legislation in March and a previous vote by MPs against assisted dying in 2015.

Assisted dying is currently illegal in the U.K. and assisting someone to end their life is punishable by up to 14 years in prison in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The vote was a matter of conscience, meaning parties did not whip their MPs who could vote as they wished.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was not an MP when Leadbeater's bill was previously debated, deliberately abstained to avoid swaying the views of MPs.

Nonetheless, Burnham argued soon after becoming PM that fixing palliative and social care should come before legalizing assisted dying.

“It is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care,” he said in July.

Isabel Loubser contributed to this report.