The British Parliament building in London. / Credit: Marinesea/Shutterstock
London, England, Mar 27, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
A parliamentary bill that would unleash medically assisted suicide on England and Wales might not be implemented for another four years amid a growing climate of concern about the viability of such a system.
According to several U.K. publications, including The Times, the Guardian, and the Catholic Herald, the future of the legislation looks uncertain since it may not take effect until 2029 following amendments to the proposed legislation.
It was originally thought that the bill might take two years to implement, but Member of Parliament (MP) Kim Leadbeater, sponsor of the bill, said the delay might be as long as four years.
According to Leadbeater's spokesperson, "Kim has always been clear that it's more important to get the assisted dying legislation right than to do it quickly."
"The bill now contains even stronger safeguards than when it was first tabled, with a new judge-led voluntary assisted dying commission and multidisciplinary panels to examine every application. These will inevitably take longer to implement," the spokesperson continued.
"But the four-year limit is not a target, it's a backstop. Kim hopes and believes the service can be delivered more quickly if it becomes law later this year."
Since members of Parliament voted in support of the bill in January, the bill has been going through the committee stage of its passage, during which it has been scrutinized by several MPs.
However, the process has been mired in controversy due to accusations of bias from campaigners, who highlight that the committee has a disproportionate majority of members who support the bill.
On March 26, The Times newspaper wrote an editorial titled "The Dangerously Flawed Assisted Dying Legislation Should Be Abandoned," which concluded: "The thankless task of scrutinizing this sinister and half-baked proposal has fallen to a few brave MPs on the committee … Thanks to them its flaws have been fatally exposed. It remains only to administer the coup de grace and kill this bill."
Following the news that implementation might be delayed, former Paralympian and cross bench peer (a non-party political member who sits on the benches that cross the chamber of the House of Lords) Tanni Grey-Thompson told CNA: "I'm disappointed with the process. This is the biggest legislative change to our society potentially ever, and it feels like it's been pushed through at a pace. When you take note of the number of amendments to improve the safeguards that are being rejected, it's quite disappointing."
"We've continually been told it's the safest bill in the world, but that's quite a low bar as every jurisdiction has changed since inception and the safeguards have become weaker," she added. "It's hard to know what to make of this potential delay and whether it's because they've begun to understand that, in its current format, the bill is unworkable."
Grey-Thompson continued: "So many organizations have come out and said it's an awful bill. If the government is committed to wanting to help people, they need to look at palliative care. When you look at the other proposals around cuts to welfare and winter fuel, it's pushing vulnerable people into greater vulnerability. On the back of the budget, many charities have talked about the impact on the vulnerable. It's a worrying time."
