Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill could be brought back through the Private Members’ Bill process, with MPs successful in the ballot due to present their chosen Bills on Wednesday 17 June 2026.

If this Bill returns and the Parliament Acts route is then used to pass it into law without the agreement of the House of Lords, as campaigners are proposing, it could have devastating consequences for people with Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities, as well as their families.

For the past 30 years, the Down Syndrome Research Foundation UK has worked to extend the life, health and wellbeing of people with Down’s syndrome through research and advocacy. We have serious concerns about any change in the law to legalise assisted dying on behalf of our community.

Our concern is not simply about assisted dying in principle, but about the serious and unresolved risks this particular Bill creates for people with Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities.

The problem with the Parliament Acts route is that the Bill would need to return in the same form as it left the Commons, with only very limited changes allowed. That means the Bill could be revived and become law without the normal opportunity for MPs to add safeguards that were raised in the House of Lords and highlighted by professional bodies and groups representing vulnerable people, including those advocating for people with Down’s syndrome, at a House of Lords Select Committee last autumn.

This matters because 61 organisations representing people with Down’s syndrome, learning disabilities and disabled people across the UK have identified specific safeguard gaps in the Bill. Their open letter set out practical issues around pressure, coercion, communication needs, capacity assessments, and whether people with Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities would have the right support to understand and participate in a process with life-ending consequences.

You can read the open letter here:
https://ndspg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Open-Letter-Assisted-Dying-Bill-1-3.pdf

These issues have not been resolved.

In the Lords, several amendments were tabled to strengthen practical safeguards for people with Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities. These included adding Down’s syndrome to the independent advocate provisions, requiring advocates to consult parents, carers or people appointed by the Court of Protection where appropriate, and strengthening support for people whose communication needs could affect their ability to take part properly in the process.

These are basic protections. They should not be treated as optional, and they should not be left out of legislation with life-ending consequences. But they are not in the Bill as it left the Commons.

If the same Bill is brought back and passed unchanged, as required if the Parliament Acts were to be invoked, MPs would not have a proper chance to add the safeguards that organisations working with and for people with Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities have emphasised are needed.

That is why we are asking supporters to act now.

Please use the simple tool linked here to email your MP and ask them to help stop the assisted dying Bill being brought back unchanged.

https://sendletter.dsrf-uk.org/

Your email will ask your MP to speak to colleagues who were successful in the Private Members’ Bill ballot and ask them not to revive this Bill. If your MP is in a position to bring back the Bill themselves, they will be asked not to use their slot in this way.

This action only takes a minute, but it could make a real difference. MPs need to hear that people with Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities must not be left exposed to known risks in a Bill that still lacks the safeguards required to protect them.

Please write to your MP today and ask them to help stop the assisted dying Bill being brought back.

If you receive a response from your MP, please email it to us at: dsrf@dsrf-uk.org