In a landmark vote on June 21, 2025, the UK House of Commons approved a bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales for terminally ill adults. The legislation, which passed by a narrow margin of 314 to 291, would allow mentally competent adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live to apply to end their lives with medical assistance.
The process requires the approval of two doctors and a special panel comprising a social worker, a senior legal figure, and a psychiatrist; a previous requirement for a judge to sign off on the decision was removed from the bill. The patient must be capable of self-administering the fatal drugs. The bill also includes a broad conscientious objection clause for any person, including doctors and pharmacists, who does not wish to participate. The legislation, seen as one of the most significant social policy changes in the UK in decades, now moves to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
Source: AP News