Baroness Meacher: "These sort of defeats are unusual in the House of Lords"
The government is being urged by Labour to scrap its planned welfare changes after a series of defeats in the Lords.
Labour peers and independent cross benchers rejected proposals to means test the benefits of young disabled people and cancer patients.
Half of Liberal Democrat peers in the chamber did not support the coalition.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said the coalition had been defeated for trying to "cross the basic line of British decency".
He urged ministers not to try to reinstate the measures in the Commons.
"For months Labour has been determined to stop this cruel attack on cancer patients in its tracks. And today the House of Lords agreed," he said.
"The government's proposal to cut paid for benefits for people still in chemotherapy crosses the basic test of fairness."
Peers voted by 260 to 216 to protect up to 15,000 young disabled people from cuts to employment support allowance (ESA), has replaced incapacity benefit.
They voted 234 to 186 for a two-year limit on claims, rather than the proposed one year, and by 222 to 166 to exempt cancer sufferers from a limit.
Critics said the plan had meant disabled children who could never work would never be entitled to the benefit.
As part of their drive to cut spending on welfare, the government wants to remove the so-called "youth provision" that allows some young people to receive contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) even though - due to disability or illness - they have not been able to work and build up National Insurance.
Welfare Minister Lord Freud said it was unfair for a young person to continue to get a contributory benefit without having "paid in" - even if they were to inherit a lot of money.
He estimated that 90% of those affected by the change would still get the income-related part of ESA.
The effect of increasing the time limit from one to two years would be £1.6bn over five years, he said.
He said the proposal to time-limit contributory ESA only applied to people in the "work-related activity group" and not those in the "support group" who were deemed incapable of work.
"We will always provide a safety net for those with limited income and people will still be able to claim income-related ESA."
He said that other benefits such as housing benefit and council tax benefit would be available.
In the second defeat on Wednesday evening, peers agreed a move to replace the one-year cap with the ability for the government to legislate for a limit of not less than two years.
"I am sympathetic to cutting the deficit, but I am highly sympathetic to sick and vulnerable people not being subjected to something that will make their lives even more miserable," said the crossbencher and eminent doctor Lord Patel, who introduced the amendment.
His second amendment removed the time limit on contributory ESA payments for people receiving treatment for cancer.
The defeats mean the measures will be removed for the time being from the government's flagship welfare reform bill pending a decision by ministers on how to respond.
The BBC's deputy political editor James Landale said that if the proposals were dropped entirely, the government would lose an estimated £2bn in savings.
The government also suffered a defeat last month over elements of their plans to overhaul housing benefit.
Despite these setbacks, ministers say they are determined to pass legislation that will increase incentives for people on benefits to work while protecting the most vulnerable and making welfare expenditure more sustainable.
"Our plans are about returning the welfare state to its original purpose of supporting those with the most need," a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said.
"This means ensuring that taxpayer's money is spent on those who are too sick or disabled to work and those with the least money."
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