--- title: "Assisted Dying Bill falls in the House of Lords" date: "2026-04-24T07:00:00+01:00" modified: "2026-04-23T16:27:46+01:00" url: "https://humanists.uk/2026/04/24/assisted-dying-bill-falls-in-the-house-of-lords/" post_id: 188859 categories: ["News"] --- # Assisted Dying Bill falls in the House of Lords ![](https://i0.wp.com/humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/Assisted-Dying-Rally-4.webp?resize=999%2C563&ssl=1)The Assisted Dying Bill has failed in the House of Lords due to a deliberate filibuster by a small number of peers opposed to the principle of assisted dying. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision deplore the use of dirty tactics on a Bill of this importance and urge MPs to bring the Bill back in the next parliamentary session. #### **Humanists UK’s Chief Executive Andrew Copson said:** > ‘The actions of a small group of unelected peers on this Bill have been deplorable. It’s a stain on our democracy and a slap in the face to hundreds of terminally ill people and their families, who were given hope when MPs voted in favour last year. > > ‘The elected chamber must bring back this Bill. Dying people want choice and compassion at the end of their lives. The status quo leaves people dying in pain with three awful options: fly to Switzerland, refuse food and treatment, or suffer. Those options are unacceptable.’ #### **Graham Winyard, Board Member of My Death, My Decision, said:** > ‘I’m equal parts outraged and distraught. Dying people were made to wait while peers talked and talked. We welcomed scrutiny of this Bill and serious debate, even when that debate was difficult, and opinions differed. That is how Parliament should work. > > ‘MPs now need to show that they actually believe in democracy by bringing this Bill back and passing it without further obstruction.’ Today will be the final debate in this parliamentary session. At 15:00, when the debate has finished, the Bill will have failed. It will officially fall when Parliament is prorogued. The House of Lords Committee stage of the debate has surpassed the word count of Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel *War and Peace*. Over 75 hours of debate, totalling 607,077 words, have led to only [three minor changes](https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3774/stages/20186/amendments?searchTerm=&amendmentNumber=&Decision=Agreed) to the Bill. The [Parliament Act can be used](https://humanists.uk/2026/01/29/parliament-act-can-be-used-to-pass-assisted-dying-bill-in-light-of-lords-filibuster/) to bypass the Lords and enact the Bill. #### **The filibuster:** 43 UK citizens have died at the Swiss assisted dying centre Dignitas since the first reading of the Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Lords on 23 June 2025. Since then, nearly 1,300 changes to the Bill have been proposed, a [record for any parliamentary Bill](https://humanists.uk/2026/02/02/assisted-dying-bill-breaks-record-for-number-of-amendments/), with [seven of the most vocal opponents](https://humanists.uk/2025/11/14/seven-assisted-dying-bill-opponents-table-587-amendments-between-them/) putting forward nearly 700 amendments between them. Amendments have included a pregnancy test for all applicants, including men, a one-year [holiday ban for applicants](https://humanists.uk/2025/12/04/coffey-proposes-holiday-ban-for-terminally-ill-assisted-dying-applicants/), and an unworkable requirement for [half a dozen GP visits](https://humanists.uk/2025/12/12/peers-propose-gp-requirements-that-would-shut-terminally-ill-out-of-assisted-dying/). Peers spent nearly an hour debating a group of probing amendments from Lord Frost that would change the wording of ‘assistance to end their own life’ in the Bill to ‘medical help to commit suicide by provision of lethal drugs’. These amendments add nothing to the clarity, workability or safety of the Bill and replace neutral, clinically accurate language with stigmatising terminology. We have identified several instances of peers being explicitly clear that [they are trying to block the Bill](https://humanists.uk/2025/12/17/anti-assisted-dying-peers-have-been-open-about-filibustering-the-bill/) by means other than it being voted down. #### **Reactions from campaigners** #### **Sarah Tuckley, whose husband** [**Dan travelled to Switzerland**](https://www.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/tuckley/) **to end his life at the age of 46 after being diagnosed with aggressive terminal cancer, said:** > ‘Dan was a wonderful man. I still struggle to refer to him in the past tense. He served his country, and in the end, he chose to take control of the only thing he could. Dan was not dying in months; he had days, but he wanted a say over how he died after every other choice had been taken away from him. > > Sadly, the House of Lords has already betrayed Dan and others facing the same suffering. Dan’s choice did not take anything away from anyone else. But the House of Lords is robbing people like Dan of the compassion they deserve at the very moment they need it the most. > > They have let him down, they have betrayed him, and they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.’ #### **Hannah Slater, a 38-year-old mother** [**living with a terminal illness**](https://www.facebook.com/MyDeathMyDecision/posts/hannah-slater-a-38-year-old-mother-of-one-is-living-with-terminal-illness-what-s/1259425612900208/)**, said:** > ‘The Bill has already been passed by the elected House of Commons, and yet it has fallen because a small handful of Lords have blocked it. That is not democratic.’ > > ‘I have stage four breast cancer, which has spread to my brain and my eye. I’ve already lost the vision in one eye, and I’ve lost so much independence, but I still want the chance to make the decision that feels right for me and my family.’ > > ‘I have a three-year-old son whom I love very much, and I am very much invested in living for as long as possible. But I also want dignity, choice and compassion when that time comes.’ > > ![](https://i0.wp.com/humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6423-1200x675.webp?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1) #### Notes For further comment or information, media should contact Nathan Stilwell at or phone **07456 200033**. (media only) Humanists UK is making the following photos available to the media to use – credit to Simona Sermont/Humanists UK – [1](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/HumanistsUKFreedomOfChoice00029.jpg), [2](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/HumanistsUKFreedomOfChoice00048.jpg), [3](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/HumanistsUKFreedomOfChoice00022.jpg), [4](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/HumanistsUKFreedomOfChoice00021.jpg), [5](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/HumanistsUKFreedomOfChoice00072-crop.jpg). Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision have people and their loved ones who would be affected by this change available for the press. If you have been affected by the current assisted dying legislation, and want to use your story to support a change in the law, please email . Humanists defend the right of each individual to live by their own personal values, and the freedom to make decisions about their own life so long as this does not result in harm to others. Humanists do not share the attitudes to death and dying held by some religious believers, in particular that the manner and time of death are for a deity to decide, and that interference in the course of nature is unacceptable. We firmly uphold the right to life but we recognise that this right carries with it the right of each individual to make their own judgement about whether their life should be prolonged in the face of pointless suffering. We recognise that any assisted dying law must contain strong safeguards and the international evidence from countries where assisted dying is legal shows that safeguards can be effective. We also believe that the choice of assisted dying should not be considered an alternative to palliative care, but should be offered together as in many other countries. [Humanists UK](https://humanists.uk/) is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all. [My Death, My Decision](http://mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/) is a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering from an incurable condition the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members and supporters, we advocate for an evidence-based law that would balance individual choice alongside robust safeguards and finally give the people of England and Wales choice at the end of their lives. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision are both members of the Assisted Dying Coalition, along with Friends at the End, Humanist Society Scotland, and End of Life Choices Jersey.