Labour MP to Reintroduce Assisted Dying Bill After Lords Blocked Prior Version with Unprecedented Amendments

Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, said she will introduce an identical bill to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that passed the House of Commons last year. The bill would allow people over the age of 18 who were expected to die within six months to be given help to end their own life, subject to certain safeguards.

The earlier bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, passed the Commons but was not passed by the House of Lords in April after an unprecedented number of suggested amendments.

It ran out of time before peers completed their review. Edwards told the BBC she was "playing by the rules" by bringing the bill back. " She urged peers to refine the legislation the Commons had introduced.

Labour MP Ashley Dalton said she was "deeply concerned" by the move. " The previous attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales was passed narrowly by MPs in June 2025. The government was officially neutral on that bill, although several cabinet ministers including the then health secretary Wes Streeting voiced their opposition.

Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour. By presenting the same legislation, Edwards is invoking the Parliament Act process, which allows an identical bill passed in two consecutive sessions to become law even without Lords approval if peers do not pass it before the end of the next session.