Welsh Senedd set to follow Westminster with controversial debate on assisted dying
The Welsh Parliament is set to hold follow Westminster by holding a debate and vote on assisted dying.
Julie Morgan MS, Senedd member for Cardiff North, has tabled a motion calling on the Welsh Government to support the principle of assisted dying and Westminster proposals for a change in law.
The Westminster assisted dying bill is expected to allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or less left to live the right to choose to end their lives with medical help. It is the first attempt to change the law in a decade.
Kim Leadbeater, the lawmaker from Britain’s governing Labour Party who is behind the bill, said the current law, under which assisting suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in jail, was outdated given a shift in public opinion.
Assisted dying is devolved to every Government across the United Kingdom and Crown dependencies – except in Wales. Assisted dying campainghers are arguing that as a nation with its own Parliament, culture, and history, Wales should also be able to determine its law on assisted dying.
When assisted dying was last debated in Wales in 2014, the Senedd voted against the proposals. A petition for an open debate on “implementing assisted dying for life limiting illness” was submitted to the Senedd in February 2024 was rejected on the grounds that “Modifying the law of assisted suicide is outside the legislative competence of the Senedd.”
The latest Labour Senedd member’s motion was co-submitted by the Conservatives’ James Evans as well as Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price and Heledd Fychan.
Ms Morgan’s debate is scheduled to take place on Wednesday October 23 at about 3.15pm. The vote will be non-binding and Ms Morgan notes that responsibility for assisted dying is not devolved to Wales because it is a matter governed by criminal law. But her motion says if assisted dying were legalised, the Welsh Government would require an in-depth understanding given its responsibility for health and social care.
Ms Morgan proposes that the Senedd, “believes adults of sound mind who are intolerably suffering from an incurable, physical condition and have a clear and settled wish to die should have the option of an assisted death, subject to robust safeguards”.
Ms Morgan, a former minister, sought to clarify whether cabinet members, who typically abstain on member debates, will have a free vote as she quizzed Jane Hutt on October 15.
Ms Hutt, who is the chief whip and Trefnydd, a role similar to the leader of the house in Westminster, confirmed ministers will have a free vote as it is a matter of conscience.
The Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia in Wales, Archbishop Mark O’Toole, has already issued a heartfelt plea to the public to voice their opposition to the Westminster bill on assisted suicide.
“All human life is sacred. This message is not just for people of faith, but for all people of goodwill, because the proposals for physician-assisted suicide are not just contrary to the dignity and sanctity of life, they pose grave dangers to vulnerable people,” said Archbishop O’Toole.
“Cherishing life means building a society where every person is included and the diversity of individuals is not seen as a burden.”
The Church in Wales is also opposing the assisted dying bill, arguing it will endanger vulnerable people.
In a joint statement, the Anglican bishops have stressed the need to protect society’s most vulnerable individuals from the risks associated with this measure.
The bishops said: “This is an extremely difficult issue over which different people, including Christians, will have arrived at differing views with the best of intentions.
“Nonetheless, the protection of the most vulnerable people in our society from the risks inherent in this measure must be the paramount issue, and for that reason, we cannot in good conscience support the proposed legislation.”
If you are living in Wales and want to voice your objections to assisted dying legislation, write to you SM now …