A proposal to give terminally ill people in England and Wales the option to end their lives will be introduced in Parliament this month.

Labor MP Kim Leadbeater is pushing the bill and said that “now is the time” to hold a new debate on assisted dying, after rejecting a bill on the issue in 2015.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised earlier He gave Labor MPs the opportunity to vote their conscience on the issue and has himself supported changes to the law.

However, Baroness Tawny Grey-Thompson, a former Paralympian who is a crossbencher in the House of Lords, said she was against the proposed change.

Leadbeater said his proposals would give eligible adults nearing the end of their lives the right to shorten their own deaths if they wish.

Details have not been finalized but the bill is likely to be similar A motion in the House of LordsWhich would allow terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to receive medical assistance to end their lives.

The bill is expected to be formally introduced on October 16, with debate and preliminary voting likely to take place later this year. Before becoming a law, it will have to be approved by MPs and colleagues.

scotland, jersey And isle of man Changes in the law are also being considered.

The topic has gained attention in recent months, after broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen revealed she has lung cancer and has attended the assisted dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland.

On Friday the Prime Minister said that ahead of the general election he had promised Dame Esther a debate and a free vote on assisted dying.

He said he would stick to this commitment and confirmed that the government would remain neutral.

Dame Esther, who is calling for changes to the law, said she was surprised she could live to see the issue debated in Parliament.

He said that according to the state of the law, his family “risks being accused of my murder” if they help him end his life in Switzerland.

“All I’m asking is that our choices be respected,” Dame Esther told the BBC.

“If I decide that my own life is not worth living, please can I ask for help to die. It is a choice.”

But palliative care and public health physician Dr. Lucy Thomas said assisted death is a last resort that courts, rather than doctors, are better suited to judge.

He said the decision to end his life was not a “straight consumer decision”.

Baroness Grey-Thompson told the BBC that she was opposed over concerns of “the impact on vulnerable people, the impact on disabled people, coercive control and the ability of doctors to make six-month diagnoses”.

Assisted suicide – deliberately helping another person end their life – is currently banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Assisted dying is commonly used to describe a situation where someone who is terminally ill seeks medical help in order to receive lethal medications that they take themselves.

As a backbench MP, Leadbeater will not normally be allocated time for a full debate and vote in Parliament on one of his proposed bills.

However, earlier this year She came first in the private members’ voting, meaning she would be given some of the limited time available for backbench MPs’ bills.

Speaking to the BBC, the Spain Valley MP said that topping the poll had inspired him to look at the topic of assisted dying “in much more detail” and that he believed there would be greater debate among MPs. There was “real hunger”.

“The current situation is not particularly safe and really is not the option that I think people deserve and should have,” he said.

Anil Douglas welcomed the debate. His father, who suffered from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, took his own life a day before his 60th birthday.

He said his father had lost “all physical dignity” and was in “excruciating neuralgic pain”.

“The current law is dangerous and it leads people like my father to be alone, isolated and make incredibly risky decisions,” he said.

“Really what the law should do is protect people.”

It is unclear which way the House of Commons will vote when the bill is debated.

The composition of the Commons has changed dramatically since 2015, when MPs last voted on assisted dying.

That bill – which would have allowed some terminally ill adults to end their lives with medical supervision – was rejected, with 118 MPs voting in favor and 300 voting against the plans.

In that vote, Conservative MPs rejected the bill by an overwhelming majority – 270 were against while just 27 were in favour.

Labor MPs, by contrast, were more evenly divided – 92 against and 73 in favour. One of those Labor MPs who voted in favor was Sir Keir, who is now Prime Minister but was then just a backbencher.

The current Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Angela Rayner and David Lammy, voted against.

On Friday, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told BBC Breakfast that he would vote in favor of the assisted dying bill and described the current law as “cruel”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting He said he was “conflicted” on assisted dying earlier this year. The BBC has been told they feel it is safe to debate now but are said to still have concerns.

The government has confirmed that it will remain neutral on the bill. In a letter to ministersSimon Case, the head of the civil service, said they would be able to vote “as they wish”.

“While ministers are not required to retreat from previously stated views when asked about them directly, they should exercise discretion and not engage in public debate,” he said.

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