The House of Lords has rejected assisted suicide on a number of occasions, notably in 2006 (Bill, debate, vote) and 2009 (debate, vote). Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer has taken up the cause, and tabled a bill to permit assisted suicide for the terminally ill first in 2013 (too late to make headway and falling without debate at the end of the 2013/4 session) and then again in 2014 (when the House gave a second reading to allow fuller debate and exposure of the issues. The latter effort saw two days in committee (1, 2a, 2b, 2c & 2d) but fell with the dissolution of the 2010-15 parliament, without any division on the principle of the Bill (which was based on the law currently in place in Oregon and informed by Lord Falconer's much-criticised Commission on Assisted Dying).

Lord Falconer stated his intention to bring the Bill back for a third successive year; it came 22nd in the 2015/6 Private Member's Bills ballot. Senior physician Baroness Finlay's Palliative Care Bill came 9th, and Care Not Killing looks forward to supporting her efforts.

Parliament: Assisted Dying Bill [HL] 2014-15

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