On 23 October 2024, members of the Senedd (MSs) including the first minister and health secretary rejected the motion to introduce an assisted suicide law in Wales. The vote on 24 February seems like Westminster is seeking to coerce the Senedd into changing their minds. This must be rejected. NHS Wales must be free from an assisted suicide provision.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is currently being discussed and debated in the House of Lords. This bill seeks to change health and social care provision in both England and Wales. However, health is a policy issue devolved to the Senedd and due to constitutional convention, the UK parliament need the “legislative consent” (ie vote) from the Senedd for those aspects of the bill that amend health policy in Wales.
Here are the four clauses MSs will vote on next week
Clause 49 – Monitoring by commissioner
Clause 49 requires the commissioner to monitor compliance with the act, investigate referred matters and submit an annual report to the secretary of state and the Welsh ministers. The report must include specified information on eligibility failures, panel refusals and the act’s impact on people with protected characteristics, and it must be prepared in consultation with the chief medical officers and relevant stakeholders.
Clause 50 – Review of the act
Clause 50 requires the secretary of state, within 12 months of the end of the act’s initial five-year period, to conduct a review of the act’s operation and lay a report before parliament. The review must assess whether the act has met its aim of enabling terminally ill adults, subject to safeguards, to access assisted dying, and consider the adequacy of palliative and end-of-life care, the impact on people with learning disabilities, and any concerns about the act’s operation, alongside the secretary of state’s conclusions and recommendations.
Clause 55 – Duty to consult before making regulations
Clause 55 introduces a duty to consult before regulations are made under certain provisions of the act. In relation to Clause 42, which gives Welsh ministers broad powers to make regulations on voluntary assisted dying services in Wales within devolved competence, the amendment adds a requirement that Welsh ministers must consult appropriate persons before exercising those powers.
Assisted suicide vote in the Senedd
The Evangelical Alliance team in Wales have written to all MSs ahead of the vote on Tuesday 24 February, urging them to not give consent and to vote against. Sadly, the Senedd marginally voted in favour for the motion with 28 for and 23 against. This means an assisted suicide service in Wales is dependent on the Westminster bill passing.
This article was updated following the vote on 24 February.
While this outcome is deeply saddening, we remain prayerful for our nation and for those entrusted with political leadership. The work continues for us at the Evangelical Alliance. We are committed to advocating and encouraging peers in Westminster to oppose the Bill at its Third Reading. We will persist in upholding the dignity and inherent worth of every person, at every stage of life, affirming that each is made in the image of God.
