The Law That Ran Out of Time

What's happening

The UK's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would have legalized assisted dying in England and Wales, has failed after running out of parliamentary time in the House of Lords. The bill passed the House of Commons in June 2025 with 314 votes to 291, a free vote that crossed party lines and drew comparisons to the Abortion Act and the legalization of same-sex marriage. It then moved to the Lords, where hundreds of amendments were introduced, each requiring discussion under chamber rules. There was no final vote. Time simply expired. Supporters call it a "democratic outrage," arguing a small number of peers frustrated the elected chamber's will. Opponents say the Lords did exactly what they exist to do: find problems with legislation. Scotland has rejected its own assisted dying bill. The Isle of Man and Jersey have backed similar measures, but neither has received royal assent. Over 100 MPs are prepared to reintroduce the bill.

What the Text says

The psalmist and Job approach the same question from opposite positions. One trusts. The other protests. Both assert that the boundaries of a life belong to God.

Psalm 31:14-1514But I trust in you, Yahweh. I said, "You are my God."15My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

Job 14:5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass;

Job's statement comes in the middle of a bitter lament. He is not comforting himself. He is confronting God with the brevity and suffering of human existence, asking why God would watch so closely over a life so filled with pain. The psalmist's trust is spoken from a place of persecution, not peace. "My times are in your hand" is the prayer of someone who has lost control of everything else. What the Text offers is a framework: human life is bounded, finite, and held. The debate is over who does the holding. Job did not receive an explanation for his suffering. He received a presence.

The reflection

The bill did not fail because Parliament decided against it. It failed because time ran out. There is something fitting in that. The question of when a life should end was consumed by the question of whether there was enough time to decide. Job understood the irony. Human beings are given limited days and spend them arguing over the limits. The text does not resolve the tension between compassion for the suffering and the conviction that life is held by hands larger than ours. It holds both. The parliament, it turns out, could not.