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It’s emerged that the great majority of the 1,300 amendments in the House of Lords (HoL) to a failing assisted dying bill, have been put down by just SEVEN peers who oppose the move in principle, including a Welsh doctor, and now there is talk of constitutional change to allow it to pass.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, a Crossbench member of the HoL, denies they are filibustering, and has declared: “This is scrutiny”. She is part of a small group of peers who have proposed almost two thirds of the changes to the legislation, and their amendments represent a record number of proposed changes to legislation at this stage – 26 per page.
The assisted dying bill was introduced to Parliament by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater back in October 2024, as a private member’s bill because it was put forward by a backbench MP rather than the UK Government.
MPs then spent many days debating the draft legislation in the HoC, and first voted in favour of the bill the following month by a majority of 55.
A committee of MPs from both sides of the debate then spent months considering more than 500 changes. Further debate and votes on amendments followed in the House of Commons (HoC) before MPs voted in June for the bill to progress to the HoL.
But now that it is bogged down there, with parliamentary time fast running out, there is talk of huge constitutional change to enact the people’s will.
There are reports of using the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 to force through the proposed legislation from an elected chamber.
The acts have only been invoked seven times in total, and their use would be unique in this instance.
Ms Leadbeater has said that the upper chamber has “signed its own death warrant”, and declared: “We go again. The bill will definitely come back.This is not an issue that’s going away.”.
The bill needs to pass before the King’s Speech on May 13 – in other words, before the end of this UK parliamentary session, but there may not be enough space in the parliamentary timetable.
If it doesn’t, it falls, and the legislative process has to start all over again, but with it being a private members’ bill, the UK Government is refusing to give it more time, so is, in effect, saying that it is not going to help this bill through.
All the systems in other countries have an array of safeguards (like our own proposed legislation), but these policy-makers have been MUCH quicker in changing the law to align with popular feeling, so that what is legal and what is not reflects public opinion.
Even Jersey and the Isle of Man (Crown dependencies) have passed a law legalising assisted dying.
Those eligible in Jersey are people with terminal illnesses causing unbearable suffering where they are expected to die within six months, or 12 months for those with neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s as well as Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
Both Crown dependencies have set residency requirements for eligibility – 12 months for Jersey and five years for the Isle of Man.
Lorna Pirozzolo, from Jersey, who suffers from terminal breast cancer, has said like a huge number of others, that the reform is “badly needed”.
“Like so many terminally ill people I’ve spoken with, I’m not scared of dying, but I am terrified of suffering as I go.
“Today brings enormous relief, not just for me, but for future generations of islanders who deserve compassion, choice and dignity at the end of life.“
Humanists UK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew Copson said it was a “momentous vote of confidence for compassion, dignity, and choice at the end of life”.
Yet even here there was political opposition, and this may be being reflected in the HoL.
Jersey politician, Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache voted against the law and said he was “disappointed” by the result
“Life is a precious thing and I don’t think really that it’s for people to remove life in the way in which the assisted dying law is now going to authorise”, he declared.
Perhaps the seven peers here may be disconcerted by what is happening now in the United States of America (USA).
New York (NY) is joining 12 other states (plus Washington, DC) where assisted dying is legal, and it seems to be part of a wave.
Last year Delaware as well as Illinois approved assisted dying laws, and by the end of 2026 more than 30 per cent of Americans will live in states where doctors can prescribe a fatal medication to terminally ill patients.
Lawmakers are rapidly catching up with public opinion there, with slightly more than half of Americans believing that assisted suicide is morally acceptable.
This share grows to two-thirds if the patient is in severe pain, has no chance of recovery and is asking for help to die.
Canada and the Netherlands even allow it in cases where patients are suffering from incurable pain, but are not terminally ill.
American states tend to follow the model of Oregon, which was the first to legalise assisted dying in 1994.
In the UK however it is different, even though a number of high-profile figures have supported a change in the law, including Dame Esther Rantzen.
Dame Esther is living with stage four lung cancer, first diagnosed in January 2023.
Her daughter reported in March 2025 that life-preserving drugs are no longer working, and she has joined the Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
Despite the amendments in the HoL, people appear to want action immediately, and other countries are just going ahead with legalising assisted dying anyway.
Popular support for help terminating life with appropriate safeguards, has historically remained at a very high level
In March 2024, the largest ever poll on assisted dying by Opinium Research (OR) found a majority supported a change in the law in every constituency in the UK.
● Three-quarters of respondents (75 per cent) said that they would support making it lawful for dying adults to access assisted dying in the UK, with only around one in eight people (14 per cent) stating that they would oppose such a move.
● More than half (52 per cent) would personally consider travelling to Switzerland for an assisted death if they were terminally ill, but less than three in 10 (28 per cent) would be able to afford.
So all those people may view it as frustrating that so few peers are holding up an assisted dying bill.
Maybe the seven ermine clad ones (among them a Welsh peer) could see their stance lead to a massive constitutional change – as the sponsor of the assisted dying bill says…
