UK assisted dying bill rejected by 16 votes

British MPs rejected a bill to legalise assisted dying on Friday by 286 votes to 270, blocking a proposal that would have applied to some terminally ill adults in England and Wales.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would have allowed adults given less than six months to live, and able to clearly express a wish to die, to choose to end their lives. They would have needed approval from two doctors and an expert panel.

Campaigners against the bill welcomed the result. Gordon Macdonald of Care Not Killing called it a “decisive vote” and said MPs had rejected legislation that his group argued was unsafe and could pressure vulnerable people.

Disability rights campaigner Philip Friend told AFP he was relieved, saying opponents believed the bill lacked safeguards and did not properly investigate coercion.

Supporters of the bill were upset outside parliament. Dignity in Dying called the vote “a devastating setback for dying people” and said the issue was not going away.

Rebecca Wilcox, daughter of television personality Esther Rantzen, who has a terminal diagnosis, told AFP she was “completely devastated” and said campaigners would keep trying to change the law.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham had said he would not take part in the vote so as not to “unduly influence the debate”. Since becoming prime minister in July, Burnham has relaunched a push to improve social care for elderly and vulnerable people and has supported prioritising palliative care.

New Ipsos polling in late August 2026 indicated sustained support for assisted dying among British adults aged 16-75, with two in three backing the draft legislation.

The bill followed an earlier Commons vote last year that backed separate but identical draft legislation. That bill was stopped in the House of Lords after more than 1,200 amendments, before the measure was reintroduced in the current parliamentary session.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in Scotland rejected a bill to legalise assisted dying. Lawmakers in Jersey and the Isle of Man have approved assisted dying legislation, but those measures are awaiting royal assent. Assisted dying is legal in several countries, including Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland.