Concerns Remain over Potential Loopholes in Assisted Suicide Bill as MPs Ready for Major Vote

The bill’s sponsor, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, has said she is confident it will pass in the final stage in the House of Commons and will progress to the Lords.

MP Kim Leadbeater holds a copy of the bill during a press conference in the Houses of Parliament about the forthcoming Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Third Reading debate, in London, on June 19, 2025. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Concerns still remain over potential loopholes in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a day before MPs are set to vote on whether to change the law to allow for terminally ill adults to access medic-assisted suicide.

It is expected that some outstanding amendments might be voted on first thing on Friday, before debate on the Private Member’s Bill as a whole begins.

MPs voted for the bill with a narrow majority of 55 in November, and some MPs have suggested that many who voted for it at Second Reading will vote against on June 20.

But the bill’s sponsor, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, has said she is confident it will pass in the final stage in the House of Commons and will progress to the House of Lords.

If it is passed on Friday, it would be the second major change in British law this week, after MPs voted to remove criminal penalties for women in England and Wales who end their pregnancy for any reason and at any stage of gestation.

‘Danger to Public Safety’

Critics of the bill from within Leadbeater’s own party and a leading medical group have warned that there are “loopholes” which could impact on vulnerable people, and for that reason have urged MPs to vote against it.

The most vocal among those lawmakers is Naz Shah who has called the bill “a danger to public safety” that cannot be allowed to pass.

Shah, who was on the bill committee and has scrutinised the plans line by line, said in a thread on social media platform X on Wednesday that the wording of the definition of terminal illness is so broad, it could include people with anorexia, diabetes, and kidney failure, conditions which can be life-threatening but manageable.

“If the definition of terminal illness is loose enough that a person with anorexia who refuses food or someone with diabetes who can’t access insulin could qualify for lethal drugs on the NHS, then the whole premise of the bill collapses,” the MP for Bradford West said.

Psychiatrists Issue Warning

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) echoed similar concerns, saying the bill “risks preventable deaths of people with treatable mental illness.”

In a statement published on Thursday, RCPsych said that physical symptoms are key features of some mental disorders, such as dementia and eating disorders.

(Left to right) A Church of England lay preacher who is terminally ill with breast cancer, MP Kim Leadbeater, and campaigner and cancer sufferer Sophie Blake speaking at a press conference in the Houses of Parliament about the forthcoming Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Third Reading debate, in London, on June 19, 2025. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Dr. Annabel Price, RCPsych lead on assisted dying for England and Wales, said, “We are particularly concerned about the possible inclusion of people whose mental disorders have physical impacts that can lead to death, such as kidney failure from anorexia.”

“We do not want to see instances where people are given the means to end their life, knowing that, with time, care, and access to proper treatment, they might have chosen differently,” Price said.

‘Layers of Safeguarding’

Leadbeater has defended her bill, saying it has “layers of safeguarding.”

Questioned on the concerns raised by her Labour colleague and the RCPsych, Leadbeater told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that the bill’s criteria outline that someone is only eligible if they have an inevitably progressive illness or disease which cannot be reversed by treatment, “and anorexia, fortunately, can be reversed by treatment.”

The Labour MP for Spen Valley said, “You are not eligible under the bill only because you have a mental disorder, and anorexia is a very severe mental disorder.”

She added that owing to the need to determine capacity of applicants, “someone who is so poorly with anorexia would be virtually impossible to be deemed to have capacity to make that decision by two doctors and a compulsory psychiatric referral.”

“That person does not need assisted dying. They need help and they need support,” she said.

Free Vote

According to the current wording of the proposed legislation, terminally ill adults residing in England and Wales and who have less than six months to live will be able to apply for medic-assisted suicide.

Applications will be subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a senior legal figure, a social worker, and a psychiatrist. If the application is granted, a doctor would give the person a substance which they would administer to themselves.

The bill’s implementation period has been doubled to a maximum four years, meaning that it might not be until 2029—potentially coinciding with the end of this government’s Parliament—that assisted suicide will be offered.

The government does not take a position on the bill and MPs are allowed a free vote, meaning they will vote with their conscience rather than along party lines.

PA Media contributed to this report.