Introducing the bill, Leadbeater urged her colleagues to reflect on “the heartbreaking reality and human suffering which far too many people are experiencing as a result of the status quo.”
She argued the legislation would give dying people choice, autonomy and dignity at the end of their lives.
Danny Kruger, a Conservative MP and one of the most prominent critics of the bill, said MPs should not opt for “a vote for despair but the start of a proper debate about dying well in which we do better than a state suicide service.”
At present, laws throughout the U.K. prevent people from receiving medical help to die.
This is a live story which is being updated.