How MPs will have another chance to vote on assisted dying next year

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill now goes to the committee stage where MPs can table amendments.

The committee considering the Bill has the power to send for people, papers and records as part of its evidence sessions.

The Bill will face further scrutiny and MPs will have a final chance to vote for or against it at what is known as the third reading, expected to take place next April.

Under the Bill, only terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months and who have been resident in England and Wales and registered with a GP for at least 12 months will be eligible for assisted dying.

They must have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish – free from coercion or pressure – to end their life.

The terminally ill person must make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die. Two independent doctors must be satisfied the person is eligible and can consult a specialist in the person’s condition and get an assessment from an expert in mental capacity.

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

There must be at least seven days between the doctors making their assessments and a further 14 days after the judge has ruled, for the person to have a period of reflection on their decision.

It would be illegal to pressure, coerce or use dishonesty to get someone to make a declaration that they wish to end their life. If someone is found guilty of this, they face a jail sentence of up to 14 years.