Watch live as MPs vote whether or not to legalise assisted dying on Friday (29 November).
If passed, it could lead to the most significant reform in British society since the abolition of the death penalty in 1965 and the introduction of abortion two years later.
The divisive issue is being debated in the Commons on Friday for the first time in almost a decade – having been voted down by MPs in 2015.
Five hours have been set aside for MPs to air their views on Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and a vote must be called before 2.30pm otherwise the Bill is highly unlikely to make any further progress through Parliament.
Ms Leadbeater said she is hopeful this “major social reform” will pass this first stage in the process to becoming law.
Encouraging or assisting suicide is against the law in England and Wales, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
Ms Leadbeater has said the current law is not fit for purpose and her proposals would allow terminally ill adults in the two nations with less than six months to live to end their lives, subject to the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge.
