What is assisted dying and how could the law change?

A proposed law to give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to choose to end their life has been published. MPs are due to vote on the bill for the first time on 29 November.

A separate bill is under discussion in Scotland.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would give people in England and Wales the right to end their life if certain conditions are met. The bill, external says anyone who wants to end their life must:

A High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors, and can also question the dying person, or anyone else they consider relevant.

After the judge has made their ruling, a patient would have to wait another 14 days before acting.

A doctor would prepare the substance being used to end the patient's life, but the person themselves would take it.

The legislation would make it illegal to pressure or coerce someone into declaring they want to end their life, carrying a possible 14-year prison sentence.

The bill has been introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who says that "now is the time" to hold a fresh debate on assisted dying and that her bill includes "the strictest safeguards anywhere in the world".

The proposals would have to be approved by MPs and peers in a series of votes before becoming law. The first debate and vote will be in the House of Commons on Friday 29 November.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to allow Labour MPs to vote as they wish on the issue.

At present, laws throughout the UK prevent people from asking for medical help to die.

Both the British Medical Association, external, which represents doctors, and the Royal College of Nursing, external have neutral positions on assisted dying.

Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur has drafted the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.

If passed by MSPs, eligible applicants would have to:

In October 2024, Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said the proposed legislation went beyond the limits of Holyrood's powers, and was a matter for Westminster.

However, he said he was "very confident" the UK and Scottish governments could work together to ensure the bill became law if it was backed by MSPs.

Opponents have raised concerns that people could be put under pressure to end their lives, and have urged the government to focus on improving palliative care instead.

Paralympian and House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Grey-Thompson is among those who are against changing the law.

She told the BBC she is worried about "the impact on vulnerable people, on disabled people, [the risk of] coercive control, and the ability of doctors to make a six-month diagnosis".

Palliative care and public-health doctor Dr Lucy Thomas said assisted dying was a last resort, and that choosing to end your life was not a "straightforward consumer decision".

Actor and disability-rights activist Liz Carr, who made BBC One documentary Better Off Dead?, also opposes changing the law.

"Some of us have very real fears based on our lived experience and based on what has happened in other countries where it's legal," she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of campaign group Care Not Killing, said: "The safest law is the one we currently have."

"This bill is being rushed with indecent haste and ignores the deep-seated problems in the UK's broken and patchy palliative care system."

Campaigners representing people with terminal and life-limiting illnesses have made a number of attempts to alter the law in recent years.

One of the highest-profile advocates for change is broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, who has been diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer.

She launched a petition in support of assisted dying in December 2023.

It received more than 200,000 signatures, and triggered a debate in Parliament on 29 April. Dame Esther urged MPs to attend, despite the lack of a binding vote.

"All I'm asking for is that we be given the dignity of choice," Dame Esther told BBC News, after details of Ms Leadbetter's bill emerged.

"If I decide that my own life is not worth living, please may I ask for help to die?"

There is some debate over exactly what the various terms mean, external.

However, assisted dying generally refers to a person who is terminally ill receiving lethal drugs from a medical practitioner, which they administer themselves.

Assisted suicide is intentionally helping another person to end their life, including someone who is not terminally ill. That could involve providing lethal medication or helping them travel to another jurisdiction to die.

Euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering in which a lethal drug is administered by a physician. Patients may not be terminally ill.

There are two types: voluntary euthanasia, where a patient consents; and non-voluntary, where they cannot because, for example, they are in a coma.

The Dignity in Dying campaign group says more than 200 million people around the world have legal access to some form of assisted dying, external.

Switzerland has allowed assisted suicide since 1942 and its Dignitas facility began operating in 1998.

The organisation accepts foreign patients as well as Swiss nationals, and said it had 1,900 UK members in 2023, a 24% rise on the previous year.

Between 1998 and 2023 Dignitas helped 571 Britons to die, external.

Assisted suicide is also legal in Austria.

In the US, 11 states - Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Hawaii, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine and Washington DC - allow "physician-assisted dying".

It permits doctors to prescribe lethal drugs for self-administration.

Voluntary euthanasia is legal in Canada where it is called medical assistance in dying. It can be provided by a doctor or nurse practitioner, either in person or through the prescription of drugs for self-administration.

It is also legal in Spain and Colombia, both of which also permit assisted suicide.

Assisted dying is legal in some parts of Australia but the law differs across states. It is not permitted in either the Northern or Australian Capital territories.

New Zealand's End of Life Choice Act legalises assisted dying and allows adults in their final months of life to request assistance from a medical professional.

Three countries have laws that allow people who are not terminally ill to receive assistance to die: The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.