The Assisted Dying Bill: A second chance at reform

After the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ran out of time at the end of the last parliamentary session, it has been reintroduced. The Bill's new private member sponsor is Lauren Edwards, Labour MP for Rochester and Strood. 

As the Bill failed for lack of time on its first passage through Parliament, it will need to complete the cycle again in this session. The second reading of the Bill takes place in the House of Commons this morning.

The Bill largely revives the proposals that were previously approved by the House of Commons, but which ultimately fell at the House of Lords hurdle. The previous Bill attracted significant political and legal debate, both in relation to the principle of assisted dying and the adequacy of the proposed safeguards. It also gave rise to wider constitutional discussion about the respective roles of the House of Commons and House of Lords in scrutinising major social policy reforms advanced through a private member's bill. As the Bill raises such significant issues, heated debate was inevitable. However, some commentators considered that the opponents of the Bill had overstepped its constitutional remit by intentionally slowing the Bill's progress by tabling a large number of amendments (meaning that the Bill ran out of time).

Now that the Bill is set to go through the rounds again, many will be keen to see whether the same issues will resurface. One potential difference this time is that, where an identical bill is voted through the House of Commons in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, provisions under the Parliament Act can be used to stop the House of Lords blocking it a second time. Whether or not this will be necessary remains to be seen.