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The Welsh Senedd’s vote in support of Westminster assisted suicide legislation has been met with disappointment.
Senedd members last night voted narrowly in favour of a Legislative Consent Motion on Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords.
The vote in the Senedd was carried 28 in favour, with 23 against. It means that should the Leadbeater bill eventually pass in Westminster, assisted suicide will be available on the Welsh NHS in the future.
Care Not Killing (CNK), a broad coalition of opponents to assisted suicide that includes doctors, palliative care specialists and disability advocates, said it was disappointed that the Senedd had chosen to back the “dangerous” consent motion.
CNK CEO Dr Gordon Macdonald said, “Changing the law to legalise either assisted suicide or euthanasia in the UK would place huge pressure, real or perceived, on terminally ill, disabled people and those suffering conditions such as clinical depression or having suicidal thoughts to end their lives prematurely, exactly as we see in the handful of places that have legalised assisted suicide or euthanasia.”
He pointed to evidence from the US state of Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal and research has shown that a majority of those who choose it do so for fear of being a burden on loved ones.
Dr Macdonald raised further concerns that the legislation as currently drafted would permit assisted suicide for conditions like eating disorders and insulin-dependent diabetes.
He continued: “We need to care for people who are suffering, not encourage them or provide them with a mechanism to end their lives. This is why we champion the extension of high-quality palliative care to all those who need it and better support for their families. This is the real progressive agenda, and why we argue for care not killing.”
A majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted in support of Leadbeater’s bill last June but the legislation must be approved by the House of Lords before it can progress further.
It has faced intense scrutiny in the House of Lords, where a significant number of peers have spoken against the bill. The large volume of changes proposed by peers has given rise to suggestions that it may run out of time in this parliamentary session.
Ross Hendry, chief executive of Christian advocacy group CARE, said he was disappointed by Tuesday night’s vote, calling the Leadbeater bill “irredeemably flawed”.
“It was not that long ago that the Senedd decisively voted against assisted suicide in principle,” he said.
“The Westminster assisted suicide Bill imposes assisted suicide on Wales, despite there being no mandate to do so from the people of Wales.”
Mr Hendry, who is Welsh, said that with current “gaps” in the provision of palliative care, social care and disability support in Wales, it was inevitable that people would “feel pressure to end their lives”.
“People across Wales would feel compelled to die out of desperation, whilst unable to access support. ‘Assisted dying’ would be disastrous for the most vulnerable in our communities,” he continued.
“The Westminster Bill don’t seek to prevent this outcome – nor could it. ‘Safeguards’ would not mitigate this pervasive threat. There are many compelling arguments against assisted suicide.”
