The Assisted Dying Bill passed its Second Reading stage in the House of Lords on Friday 19th September. A majority of their Lordships are not in support of the Bill but nonetheless chose not to oppose it head on.
The debate lasted two days and there were 160 speeches. 50 were clearly supportive. 110 were either opposed or else expressed reservations about the legal practicalities of the Bill. This balance had led some commentators to believe that the Bill might face a straightforward defeat if a vote had been called. That would have killed the Bill stone dead. Understandably, the Peers did not choose such outright opposition to their elected colleagues in the House of Commons.
The next step will be the Bill’s Select Committee hearings. These must end by the 7th November. The “Committee Stage” will then take place over four days, finishing on the 12th December. Final approval and then a return for the ultimate approval of the Commons will take place in early 2026.
If, as now seems highly likely, the Bill becomes law next year, we can expect it to be fully operational by the middle of 2030. The view of the Swiss AVD providers is that it will make little difference to the flow of their patients from the UK. At the moment, Britain accounts for around 100 of the 700 AVDs carried out for non-Swiss citizens each year. That overall total rises each year and the number from Britain is anticipated to rise as well.
