7,500 Deaths a Year? What the Assisted Dying Bill Really Means

Assisted Dying: What’s Happening in Parliament?

This week, the spotlight returned to Westminster as Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill moved closer to a key vote. The bill proposes legalising assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with six months or less to live. It’s being sold as compassionate, but the evidence this week tells a different story.

A government impact assessment, quietly released, estimates that within ten years, over 7,500 people a year could request an assisted death. That’s a huge number—far higher than anything previously suggested. Around 60% of these requests would be approved. It would mean that by 2039, assisted deaths could account for nearly 1 in every 150 UK deaths.

The cost? Up to £11.5 million a year in NHS staffing and training alone. Setting up oversight bodies will cost another £10 million annually. The report even points to potential "savings" in health and pension budgets—an uncomfortable and dangerous way to justify ending lives.

At the same time, political support for the bill is wobbling. A new poll of MPs shows more now oppose the bill than support it. Many are deeply uneasy about changes made during the committee stage—especially the removal of the High Court safeguard. That change has raised alarms, even among those who initially supported the proposal.

This bill, once hailed by some as the "safest in the world," is beginning to look increasingly risky. The safeguards are being watered down, and the sheer scale of expected deaths is alarming. There’s nothing safe or compassionate about normalising state-assisted suicide for thousands.

The next major debate and vote is expected on May 16. We’ll be doing everything we can to make sure the voices of disabled people, terminally ill people, and those who value true dignity at the end of life are heard loud and clear.

Stay with us. Challenge the narrative. Speak up.

– Not Dead Yet UK