The assisted dying bill is due for its second reading in the House of Lords on 12 September – the same day a Private Member’s bill on freedom of expression and belief is due in the Commons.
MPs passed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in June and peers could delay or reject it. However, it is rare (but not unheard of) for the Lords to reject a bill that has been approved in the Commons.
The bill was passed with just a slim majority, which may embolden peers to scrutinise it more robustly and send it back to MPs. Even then, MPs could reject amendments suggested by peers, drawing the process out further. The bill could also run out of parliamentary time.
Palliative care doctor Baroness Finlay is among peers known to oppose the bill. She told the BBC their “role is not to rubber stamp whatever has happened in the Commons, particularly when we know that so many amendments put down in the Commons that would have improved the bill have gone undebated.”
