by Rachel Huston, Premier Christian News
The passage of the Assisted Dying Bill will be delayed as the House of Lords set up a select committee to scrutinise how the legalisation will work in practice.
It means the committee stage – which is when a bill is examined in detail clause-by-clause by a group of MPs – can’t proceed until the select committee reports its findings.
There’s been significant pushback to the move, which was tabled by Baroness Berger and which Lord Falconer said was not “workable”.
Since then, Lord Falcolner has reversed his position and conceded the committee stage will have to be delayed, which has led some to conclude that supporters of the bill do not have the numbers for the bill to pass in the second chamber.
The bill was debated by peers on at the Second Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday 19th September. If passed into law, it will allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to have an assisted death.
Analysis by Right To Life UK’s Policy Team found that of the 155 peers who took a position on the Bill, 104 (67%) spoke in opposition and 51 (33%) spoke in favour, making those who oppose the bill double those who support it. Five Lords did not make their position known.
It’s in marked contrast to the same passage stage in the House of Commons in June where 25 spoke in favour and 21 spoke in opposition.
Under UK law, the House of Lords can reject the Bill and stop it from becoming law.
Read also: ‘Please don’t jump,’ Lord Moore tells peers in assisted suicide debate by Ruth Gledhill, The Tablet