An update on assisted dying legislation in Westminster and the Scottish Parliament

Last November, the Westminster Parliament voted in favour of considering a proposed law on assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. Read our previous news story on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill.

Assisted dying legislation is also progressing in the Scottish Parliament. The two bills are separate and there are important differences between them. What happens to a bill in one parliament has no direct influence on what happens to the other.

This article provides a summary of all you need to know about the bills in Westminster and the Scottish Parliament, and the next steps.

What we think

Our position on assisted dying remains neutral. We recognise that there are a variety of views on this issue among our members and the wider Parkinson's community. We are not campaigning for or against these bills.

What you need to know about the bill in Westminster

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the Westminster Parliament, if passed with the original proposed safeguards, would not legalise assisted dying for people with Parkinson's as a result of their condition alone. 

This is because the bill would apply only to people who have two independent doctors who confirm that they are expected to die within six months. It is very unusual for doctors to predict exactly how long a person with Parkinson's might live when they are reaching the end of their life.

From January to March 2025 a committee of MPs from different political parties heard from experts and considered over 500 changes (or amendments) to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill put forward by MPs. About a third of these amendments were accepted, the others were rejected.

Sir Nicholas Mostyn, a retired British High Court judge who talks about his personal experience of Parkinson's on the Movers and Shakers podcast, spoke to the committee on 28 January 2025, giving his perspective on the bill.    

The biggest change to the bill by the committee was to remove the need for court approval of assisted dying. 

This has been replaced in the updated bill with multidisciplinary Assisted Dying Review Panels, made up of a senior legal figure, a consultant psychiatrist, and a social worker. 

The purpose of these panels would be to determine that a person is terminally ill and has capacity to make the decision to end their own life, among other things.

Other changes include:

• Making independent advocates available for those who “may experience substantial difficulty in understanding the processes or information relevant” to the assisted dying process.
• Introducing a Disability Advisory Board to report on the implementation and impact of the bill for disabled people.
• Extending the implementation of the bill in England from 2 years to 4 years of the bill becoming law. 

The bill would also apply in Wales, but would now only come into force after the start dates had been considered and approved by the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd.

Read the House of Commons Library briefing for a full summary of the changes to the bill. 

MPs debated the updated bill in the House of Commons on 16 May 2025. The bill will be further considered on 13 June 2025, when more changes can be made at this stage. 

MPs will then vote for or against the bill. If they vote against the bill, it will make no further progress. If they vote for the bill, it will then be considered in the House of Lords. 

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will need to agree on the exact wording of the bill for it to become law.

What you need to know about the assisted dying legislation in Scotland

The Scottish Parliament voted in favour of the principles of the Assisted Dying for Terminally ill Adults (Scotland) Bill on 13 May 2025. This means that it is very likely to become law in Scotland.

This bill is completely separate from the Westminster bill, which only applies to people in England and Wales. Although the bills are on the same topic, they have developed independently of each other and are very different in almost every respect.

For example, there are differences in terms of who is eligible, the process to be followed, requirements to assess capacity, the definition of assistance, the terms under which a professional can refuse to participate and oversight of the law. 

You can read more about this on the Scottish Parliament website.

The next step is for the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee to consider and agree on any proposed changes (‘amendments’) to the legislation. There may be quite significant changes to the current draft bill.

Then there will be a final line-by-line vote by the whole of the Parliament, which can also consider amendments.

If the bill passes through these stages, it will become law.

We will continue to monitor and keep our community informed about the progress of the bills in Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.

Read more about what is happening in Scotland here.