The UK Bill to legalise Assisted Dying in England and Wales was today (Friday 20th June 2025) passed by the House of Commons. The Ayes were 314 and the Noes were 291. The majority of 23 therefore represented 3.8% of those voting. The total of 605 was 93% of the 650 MPs who could have voted.
The Bill must now pass through the House of Lords, and again through the House of Commons, before receiving the Royal Assent – probably in October of this year. It will then be the Law. However the Government now has up to four years from the date of Royal Assent to put in place all the arrangements necessary in order to make the Bill operate in the way intended. This will involve decisions upon where the AVD procedures should take place, how exactly the Independent Case Review Panels should operate and how much it will all cost.
The basic criteria are that you must be over 18, judged to be “of sound mind” and suffering from an incurable illness that will end your life within six months. Sufferers from Parkinsons, Dementia or Motor Neurone Disease will not be eligible unless they are clearly in the very late stages of their illness.
There is still a possibility that further amendments will be made by the House of Lords. These are unlikely to be substantial, however. The overwhelming probability now, therefore, is that the Bill in its present form will become law in October 2025 and will have been made fully operational by October 2029.
People who continue to help their relatives to visit one of the AVD providers in Switzerland will continue to be guilty of a serious criminal offence and will need to rely upon the DPP guidance that they will not be prosecuted.
