A bill that would have legalized assisted suicide in England and Wales has stalled in the British Parliament.
Despite being passed by the House of Commons last June in the face of strong opposition, “The Terminally Ill Adults Bill” ran out of time before it could be voted on by the House of Lords before its deadline.
The legislation would have allowed persons over the age of 18 and in the final six months of their expected remaining life to seek medical help to kill themselves.
Opponents of the bill submitted over 1,000 amendments, causing the process to stall. It was initially put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater on October 16, 2024, and passed in June 2025 by a narrow 319-291 vote.
The tidal wave of push back against the measure occurred not long after, with the Vatican weighing in as well.
In July 2025, the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family issued a statement abasing the bill, noting that “only through an authentic catechesis that teaches the supremacy of God’s law can we convince wider society that all innocent human life deserves equal protection under the law.”
Gordon McDonald, head of the anti-euthanasia organization “Care Not Killing,” praised the House of Lords for taking their time to study it. “It didn’t get proper scrutiny in the House of Commons. It’s right that parliaments look at these bills properly and give them due consideration, that’s what the House of Lords is doing,” he said.
Critics have accused members of the Upper Chamber of Parliament of stalling tactics.
The Catholic Church teaches that suicide of any kind, whether done with the help of a medical professional or on one’s own, is a grave sin since God is the author of life. Earlier this week, Canadian Catholic Cardinal Frank Leo reiterated the Church’s teaching in a letter he wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney and members of the Canadian Parliament.
“Our Catholic faith opposes the taking of any life, and it is with great disappointment and anguish that we have seen our country expand MAID at a rapid and alarming rate,” Leo explained. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are “contrary to the dignity of the human person.” His Eminence also urged lawmakers to “choose life and not death” and not to allow a planned March 2027 expansion of assisted suicide laws for those with mental illness.
The BBC has reported that despite the measure dying in the House of Lords, there is a “possibility” that it may be reintroduced next month. “Several peers who support the bill have signed a letter to MPs saying the elected chamber should decide what happens next and they believe Parliament ‘must come to a decision on choice at the end of life as soon as possible,’” the BBC explained.
In Scotland, palliative care specialists have come out in opposition to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill as well. “We are deeply concerned that legislation in its present and now amended form is clinically unsafe, inequitable, and unworkable,” the Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) stated in a letter. “We urge extreme caution: dying people need investment in care and support, not legislation that could compound existing inequities.”
In the United States, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described assisted suicide laws that target vulnerable populations as immoral during an April 22 Senate hearing.
“I think those laws are abhorrent,” Kennedy told pro-life GOP Senator James Lankford. “And we just see in Canada today, I think the number one cause of death is assisted suicide, and as you say, it targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their lives.”
While assisted suicide is not the top cause of death in Canada, it is one of the most common ways for Canadians to die. On February 6, 2024, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition released data indicating that there were approximately 15,300 euthanasia or medical assistance in dying (MAID) deaths in Canada in 2023. On December 11, 2024, Canada’s Ministry of Health released the Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying confirming that euthanasia deaths represented 4.7 percent of all deaths in 2023. This means euthanasia is the fifth leading cause of death in the country.
During the hearing Wednesday, Kennedy agreed to work with Lankford in his efforts to protect life. “I don’t think we can be a moral society, we can’t be a moral society around the globe, if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society,” he said.