BIMA welcomed the defeat of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill following the Westminster parliamentary debate and vote on Friday 11 September 2026.  BIMA’s Advocacy Team has been working on the issue of Physician-assisted suicide for many years- both independently and as part of a broad coalition of disability rights groups, medical and healthcare organisations, faith-based and non-faith groups and many others, who have been united in raising serious concerns about the legislation.

Naomi from the BIMA advocacy team was at the rally outside Parliament that morning, before being present in the chamber for the debate itself. We stood alongside many of those who have campaigned on this issue for years. There are too many organisations and individuals to name them all, but we thank them for their many years of dedicated work on this issue. We would particularly like to thank Gillian from Our Duty of Care and Pete from Not Dead Yet, who both spoke at BIMA webinars last year, and it was great to stand with them on Friday as well as activist Liz Carr and Baroness Jane Campbell, founder of Not Dead Yet, Kevin Yuill and Amanda Hunter from FAIME as well as several MPs who have been at the forefront of opposing this bill.

The debate was marked by deeply felt emotions and strongly held views on both sides of the House, but it was encouraging to see those differences expressed respectfully. BIMA’s opposition to physician-assisted suicide is not simply a religious objection. It is rooted in concerns about professional ethics, patient safety, health inequalities and the protection of vulnerable people.

BIMA’s survey of Muslim healthcare professionals found that around nine in ten opposed doctors prescribing or administering life-ending medication. Ninety-three per cent said participation would conflict with their professional ethics and beliefs and create moral distress, while 94 per cent were concerned about the difficulty of accurately determining terminal illness, particularly in complex cases. Eighty-two per cent were concerned about the impact of physician-assisted suicide on existing health inequalities within ethnic minority communities.

At the rally that morning, Naomi spoke about the need to ensure that people facing serious illness and the end of life are met with care, companionship, appropriate support and safeguarding. That message was also reflected in words shared with BIMA by a bereaved Muslim mother who had cared for her son through terminal illness and which were shared on the day:

“A seriously ill person’s world can become very small.

They may be frightened, exhausted, in pain and dependent upon others for ordinary things they once did themselves.

That experience has left me deeply concerned that our response to vulnerability must be more care, more companionship, better palliative care, advocacy and safeguarding, particularly for those who have nobody strong enough to speak beside them.”

Those words capture why BIMA has been so concerned about the impact of assisted dying on people who are already vulnerable. Disabled people, people experiencing poverty or isolation, those with inadequate care and support, and those facing existing health inequalities must not be left feeling that death is the only realistic option because the care they need is unavailable.

One point that should unite people across very different positions is the urgent need to address the substantial unmet need for palliative and end-of-life care in the UK and the underfunding of hospice care. Now that the bill has been defeated, there is still work to be done, the government must ensure:

• adequate, recurrent funding and workforce capacity for palliative and end-of-life care across primary and secondary care;
• timely and equitable access to specialist palliative care, hospice services and inpatient hospice beds, with additional capacity in areas of greatest unmet need;
• properly funded education and training for healthcare professionals in palliative and end-of-life care, including symptom control and advance care planning;
• adequately funded and responsive social care for people who are frail, seriously ill or disabled, particularly in deprived and underserved communities; and
• better support for families and carers who often carry significant responsibility with inadequate resources.

BIMA remains concerned that the most vulnerable people must not be placed at greater risk. People should never feel that physician-assisted suicide is their only option because they cannot access adequate care, are struggling to get the support they need, or feel that they have become a burden.

Whatever happens next, the priority must be to ensure that people facing serious illness, disability and the end of life have access to high-quality care, meaningful support and dignity.