Terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months would be able to request help to end their own life, under proposed legislation for England and Wales published on Monday.

MPs will take part in an initial debate and vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 29 November.

If the bill passes, it will receive further scrutiny from MPs and peers in a process that could last around six months.

So, there's still a long way to go - and we've got plenty on offer across the BBC to get you up to speed:

• Catch up with this morning's key developments and reaction to the bill in our main story
• Get to grips with exactly what would be allowed under the proposed law in our explainer
• Watchour correspondents in Westminster, Hannah Miller and Henry Zeffman, break down the politics
• Listen to the 5 Minutes On podcast, hosted by medical editor Fergus Walsh in conversation with two people with terminal conditions and opposing views

And you can, of course, scroll back through this very page for a blow-by-blow of the day. We're ending our live coverage now. Thanks for joining us.

Today's page was written by Imogen James, Sophie Abdulla, Zahra Fatima and Asya Robins. It was edited by Owen Amos and Emily Atkinson.

Pria Rai
BBC Newsbeat presenter

Image source, Family handout

Gracie Nuttall’s older sister Laura died from a brain tumour last year, aged 23.

In 2018, she was told she had 12 months to live after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Laura defied that diagnosis to tick off a "bucket list" of achievements - meeting Michelle Obama, commanding a Royal Navy ship, and graduating from the University of Manchester.

Gracie tells BBC Newsbeat she would have wanted her sister to be around for as long as possible following her diagnosis. But that doesn’t make it "the right answer", she says.

Gracie believes her sister would have backed the right of a terminally ill patient to decide the best option for themselves - at least before her own diagnosis.

"Having watched Laura die the way she did, I wouldn’t wish that on anybody and I can completely understand how someone in that position would want that option," Gracie says.

She does, though, wonder about the "six month" provision in the proposed bill.

"Who is to decide when someone has six months left of their life?

"We were initially told Laura had 12 months left to live and she lived four-and-a-half years on top of that."

Dignity in Dying, a campaign group for the option of assisted dying, says the bill provides the "most detailed, robust proposal" on the issue that "Westminster has ever considered".

The group says every year, "up to 650 terminally ill people end their own lives, often in lonely and traumatic ways", and others spend thousands to travel to Switzerland alone or with loved ones who risk "police investigations for accompanying them".

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, says: "Many have experienced the devastating effects of banning this option: witnessing prolonged, traumatic deaths despite the best care, or terminally ill relatives taking matters into their own hands at home or abroad.

"This is inarguable evidence that the status quo is not working."

As well as the content, some campaigners are criticising the timescale of the bill - saying MPs don't have enough time to digest it.

Right to Life UK - which is anti-assisted dying - says: "It's outrageous that MPs and the wider public are only seeing this bill two weeks before it goes to a vote [the first debate and vote is on 29 November].

"What is being proposed is a monumental change to our laws, and it's totally unjustifiable and fundamentally undemocratic to try and rush it through without proper public scrutiny."

Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, says: "The safest law is the one we currently have.

"This bill is being rushed with indecent haste and ignores the deep-seated problems in the UK’s broken and patchy palliative care system."

In the latest episode of the 5 Minutes On podcast, our medical editor Fergus Walsh speaks to two people with terminal conditions - and opposing views. Click here to listen to the episode.

Craig Hutchison
Live reporter, Glasgow

Image source, Getty Images

It's not just at Westminster where assisted dying legislation is being considered - a separate but similar bill is under scrutiny at the Scottish Parliament.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would allow terminally ill adults to request assistance to end their life, in Scotland.

The legislation was introduced by the Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, who told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme he is delighted Kim Leadbeater is proposing her bill for England and Wales at Westminster.

"I think she's perfectly placed to lead that campaign," he said.

There are similarities between the two bills, he added, with similar safeguards proposed.

"I wish her well in what she's doing. I think it all adds up to the sense that this is a change that is long overdue and needs to happen."

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is currently in Baku, Azerbaijan, for climate summit COP29. But he's just been asked about assisted dying at a news conference.

He says when he was chief prosecutor, he was involved in drawing up guidelines and had a "massive consultation exercise" and "saw first hand the depth and strength of the arguments on both sides".

He reiterates his position that he won't be "putting pressure" on any MPs to vote one way or another.

He will study the bill in depth, Starmer adds, "because safeguards have always been extremely important to me and were an essential part of the guidelines that I myself drew up when I was chief prosecutor".

As a reminder, Starmer supported an assisted dying bill in 2015 and last year told reporters: "I personally do think there are grounds for changing the law."

While we were covering the briefing from supporters of the assisted dying bill, an opponent has voiced his concerns on X.

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron describes the bill as an "enormous threat" to the most vulnerable.

"Given that we know that coercive control is something insidious and manipulative and that people often don’t realise they have been victims until years later, the Assisted Dying Bill is an enormous threat to vulnerable people," he writes.

"There are no adequate safeguards here."

Image source, PA Media

How will MPs vote on the bill?published at 11:29 Greenwich Mean Time 12 November

11:29 GMT 12 November

Peter Barnes
Senior political analyst

The BBC has been contacting MPs and looking at their public statements about how they’re planning to vote on the bill.

However, as things stand, a large majority of them haven’t expressed a clear view.

Many remain undecided or are consulting their constituents as they weigh up their decision.

Based on those who do have a settled position, MPs are divided on the issue.

But with so MPs undeclared, it’s impossible to know how the vote will go on 29 November.

We've just covered a news conference led by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater - who's proposing a new law on assisted dying - with a panel of supporters:

• Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer
• Conservative MP Kit Malthouse, who is helping Leadbeater bring the bill to Parliament
• Neurologist and human rights activist Dr David Nicholl
• Former director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, Max Hill KC
• One of the architects of assisted dying law in Western Australia, Dr Sally Talbot
• Nathaniel Dye, who has terminal cancer

Here are some of the key lines:

• Leadbeater says "no matter how good" palliative (i.e. end of life) care is, some people currently "have a horrible, harrowing death"
• Falconer believes the "law is completely broken"
• Malthouse says it seems "impossible" we should deny people choice when they deserve it most - that is, when they are dying
• Nicholl says his mind changed after his best friend died via euthanasia in Belgium
• Dye says the bill could help "avoid that worst case scenario of a horrific death"

• Hill says there's a "two-gear system" - those with money can travel to Dignitas in Switzerland, but for those who can't afford it, if their family leaves pills or tablets by their bedside, that's "committing a criminal offence"

Leadbeater is then asked by a reporter, what safeguarding measures are unique to the proposed law in England and Wales?

The use of High Court judge is "unique" she says - offering an extra layer of safeguarding.

The judge must hear from at least one of the two doctors involved, and can also question the dying person, or anyone else they consider appropriate.

There must be a further 14 days after the judge has made the ruling to offer a "period of reflection" with the patient able to change their mind "at any time", even on the day.

In addition, the bill makes coercion "a criminal offence" she adds.

Kim Leadbeater says in terms of numbers, most evidence from around the world shows that it’s somewhere between 0.5 and 3% of deaths, depending on the population.

She adds initially, we’re probably talking in the "hundreds" (per year), not thousands.

Lord Falconer says it will start quite slowly, saying it’s hard to predict and that different percentages apply for different countries. He says the number is likely to grow as time goes on.

Max Hill KC is speaking now - he's the former director of public prosecutions for England and Wales.

He says the law we have now, since the passing of the Suicide Act in 1961, is a "blanket provision" that offers "no safeguards".

He says we have a "two-gear system" - "those with money take themselves off to Dignitas".

But for those who "can't afford Dignitas", if their family leaves pills or tablets by their bedside, that's "committing a criminal offence".

He says all the scrutiny under the current law happens after death has occurred, which "strikes me as the most powerful reason for Parliament... to look at this again and pass a better one".

This also leaves a "deeply grieving" person "in limbo" over being prosecuted, he adds.

"I am dying of cancer - it's currently in my liver, lungs, lymph nodes and most recently my brain," says Nathaniel Dye, sitting next to Kim Leadbeater.

He says he has known of "some very positive experiences", in terms of palliative care, of losing loved ones.

In 2011, his fiancé died of cancer with "very little suffering" as far as he was aware.

He says his mother also died of cancer and he "kinda knows what's coming" - reflecting on how palliative care helped.

Dye, however, says he hopes for the best but prepares for the worst - and the bill could maybe "avoid that worst case scenario of a horrific death".

He says he's not afraid of dying but reflects on his family and loved ones, saying "they will have to live with the manner of my death".

Dr David Nicholl, a neurologist and human rights activist, says he came from a position of "absolute opposition" - but after his best friend died via euthanasia in Belgium, it changed his mind.

He says he used to think if there was better palliative care it would "solve the problem".

But he says the proposed bill is "incredibly well written" and that the current legislation "is not fit for purpose" and "impedes" his job.

This bill will "improve the quality of conversation" between doctors and patients, Nicholl adds.

We've now turned to Kit Malthouse, a Conservative MP who is helping Kim Leadbeater bring the bill to Parliament.

Even with the best palliative care in the world, some people just want a "different ending" and a "choice", he says.

It seems "impossible" we should deny them the choice when they most deserve it, he says.

Another member of Leadbeater's panel - former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer - believes the "law is completely broken".

Even though it's a crime to help someone due, with a max sentence of 14 years, the director of public prosecutions will not prosecute people who are "motivated by compassion, unless they are a healthcare professional", he says.

"The reason they won't is because society's not got the stomach to prosecute people who act in that way," he adds.

He believes the proposed bill "is workable" with "rock solid safeguards" - and for first time, he believes, it is possible to get through Parliament.

"I knew I needed to do something that would really make a difference," Kim Leadbeater says, after she was chosen in the ballot to bring a private member's bill to Parliament., external

She says this is an "opportunity" to show Parliament at it its very best.

To reassure people, she has consulted with a huge variety of people, including doctors, lawyers, religious figures and activists.

"This is not just about changing the law, it's about having a good law," she says.

She says "no matter how good" palliative care is, some people currently "have a horrible, harrowing death".

We're heading now to Westminster for a press briefing with Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the assisted dying bill, plus a panel of experts.

We'll be providing text updates on the key lines here - and tap watch live to follow along.

Our correspondents in Westminster, Hannah Miller and Henry Zeffman, break down the politics of the assisted dying bill: