The UK House Of Commons Rejected A Bill On Euthanasia

• 11.09.2026, 19:26

The bill was rejected by a margin of 16 votes.

Members of the British Parliament voted against passing a law on euthanasia and medical assistance in dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales. According to The Guardian, the bill was rejected by a margin of 16 votes: 270 members of the House of Commons voted in favor, while 286 voted against.

The bill provided that adults in England and Wales with terminal illnesses, whose life expectancy does not exceed six months, could receive assistance with voluntary euthanasia. According to the bill, the legality of such a decision would have to be approved by two doctors and a panel of experts.

According to The Guardian and the experts interviewed, Parliament is unlikely to return to discussing this issue before the next election. Civil society organizations and euthanasia advocates have already stated that they will not give up the fight for this law.

The euthanasia bill was first debated by the British Parliament in 2015, when it was rejected. The issue was revisited in 2024, when the bill passed its second reading. It also passed its third reading in June 2025, though by a narrower margin. However, in March 2026, the House of Lords blocked it on a technicality: it introduced more than 1,200 amendments that could not be debated before the end of the parliamentary session, and the bill lapsed.