Assisted dying bill set for crunch vote after months of debate over controversial legislation

A controversial bill which would give some terminally ill adults the right to end their lives is facing a crunch vote in the Commons today.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, more commonly known as the assisted dying bill, will be back for its third reading, which is the first time MPs will vote on the overall piece of legislation since the yes vote in November.

That vote, during the bill’s second reading, saw MPs vote 330 to 275 to approve the bill – a relatively narrow majority which means every vote will count later.

If the new amendments are voted through, the bill to give some terminally ill adults the right to end their lives will get closer to becoming law as it will go through to the next stage in the House of Lords.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the assisted dying bill in October last year, said she felt confident the vote will be successful.

She said: “There might be some small movement in the middle, some people might change their mind or will change their mind the other way.

“But fundamentally, I do not anticipate that the majority would be heavily eroded.”

Ms Leadbeater said if MPs fail to vote the legislation through, “it could be another decade before this issue is brought back to parliament”.

She added: “It works and it is safe, and it provides dignity to terminally ill people.

“This is not an either or when it comes to palliative care or assisted dying. It is about choice for people.”

But on the eve of the vote, four Labour MPs confirmed they were switching their vote from yes to no as they branded the bill “drastically weakened”, citing the scrapping of the High Court Judge safeguard as a key reason.

Ms Leadbeater has insisted the replacement of High Court judge approval with the multidisciplinary panels is a strengthening of the legislation, incorporating wider expert knowledge to assess assisted dying applications.

The proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.

A new YouGov poll found 72% of Britons supported the bill as it stands, including 59% of those who say they support assisted dying in principle but oppose it in practice, and 67% were opposed to the principle of euthanasia but are willing to back it in practice.

Recently, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Physicians have raised concerns about the bill.

The RCPsych said the bill, in its current form, did “not meet the needs of patients”.

It has also expressed concern over the shortage of qualified psychiatrists to take part in assisted dying panels.