Months of detailed scrutiny and further votes in the Commons and Lords are required before the bill could become law.
At present, laws throughout the UK prevent people from asking for medical help to die.
However, proposed laws to give terminally ill adults the right to choose to end their life have been agreed in the Isle of Man, which is part of the British Isles.
What is the proposed law on assisted dying in England and Wales?
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was introduced by backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
It proposes giving terminally ill people the right to choose to end their life.
It says that anyone who wants to end their life must:
- be over 18 and live in England and Wales, and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months
- have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure
- be expected to die within six months
- make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die
- satisfy two independent doctors that they are eligible – with at least seven days between each assessment
Once a patient’s application has been approved, they would then have to wait 14 days before proceeding.
A doctor would prepare the substance being used to end the patient’s life, but the person would take it themselves.
The bill defines the co-ordinating doctor as a registered medical practitioner with “training, qualifications and experience” at a level to be specified by the health secretary. It does not say which drug would be used.
It would be illegal to use dishonesty, pressure, or to coerce someone into declaring they want to end their life, with a possible 14-year prison sentence.
Under the original proposals, a High Court judge would have to approve each request to end a life.
However, Leadbetter suggested a three-person panel comprising a senior legal figure, a psychiatrist and a social worker should oversee applications instead.
And the MPs reviewing the bill have agreed to adopt this approach.
The proposal followed concerns the High Court would not have capacity to rule on each individual case.
However, opponents say the move undermines the bill’s safeguards.
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When could assisted dying become law?
Many months of activity still lie ahead in the Commons and the Lords, and it is still possible that the bill could fall and not become law at all.
There are 23 MPs on the committee scrutinising the proposed legislation line-by-line. They include 14 supporters – including two ministers – and nine opponents.
The committee is holding public hearings and taking evidence from experts. It will then propose amendments to the bill.
It is hoped that the committee process will be finished in time for the bill to return to the House of Commons on 25 April.
At that stage, all MPs will have a chance to debate and vote on the changes proposed by the committee.
There would then be more scrutiny in the Commons and the Lords, and further voting.
Even if the bill cleared all its parliamentary hurdles, MPs had originally been told there would be a period of up to two years before any new law would be implemented.
However, Leadbeater has proposed doubling this to four years, to allow more time to set up training and systems for what would be an entirely new service.
If everything was ready more quickly, assisted dying could be in place ahead of the deadline, but the BBC understands that some ministers have expressed concern about the possible delay.
How did MPs vote on assisted dying?
The historic vote saw 330 MPs support the assisted dying bill, and 275 reject it.
MPs were given a free vote on the issue, which meant they could make their own decision rather than follow party instructions. The government is impartial on the issue.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those to vote in favour of the bill, as was Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood all voted against.
Most Conservative MPs rejected the bill, including party leader Kemi Badenoch. The former PM Rishi Sunak and former deputy PM Oliver Dowden were among the minority of Tory MPs who supported it.
When MPs last voted on the issue in 2015, they rejected different proposals by 330 votes to 118.
