Dear Constituent,
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Legislative Consent Motion in the Senedd/Welsh Parliament for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
I have thought long and hard about this after considering the evidence in some detail.
My roles in the Welsh Parliament include Chairing the Cross-Party Groups on Disability, on Autism, on Deaf Issues, on Hospices and Palliative Care and on Funerals and Bereavement. These are all voluntary, elected positions.
Disability Wales and All Wales People First (which represents the voice of people with learning disabilities across Wales) have warned that "the implications of the Private Members’ Bill are far reaching with serious potential consequences", adding "this is why no Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations in the UK are in favour of legalisation".
Their concerns are well summarised by the North Wales constituent who wrote to me stating “UK Parliament has voted in favour of the Assisted Dying Bill. Whatever people’s personal views on that, as a disabled and autistic person, I can’t pretend I’m not deeply unsettled by the message that sends about how society sees people like me”.
As Chair of the Cross-Party Group on Hospice and Palliative Care in the Senedd, I have Chaired meetings in which experts from both sides of the debate have given presentations, listening carefully to what each has said.
I visited both the briefing on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill by Palliative Care Medicine Physicians in Wales in the Senedd on 17th June, where they expressed their serious and evidenced concerns about the Bill, and the briefing by Welsh Palliative Care Clinicians in the Senedd on 17th September, which detailed their comprehensive professional concerns about the Bill. This included, for example “The bill provides inadequate safeguards against coercion and protection of the vulnerable, which is a particular concern in Wales ….” and “Palliative Care needs to be provided and protected ….. The provision of palliative care across the UK is inadequate but particularly so in Wales ….”.
On 23rd September I met a Respiratory Medicine Consultant who provides care for people within the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area, to discuss what they describe as “the significant risks and harms that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will bring for the people of Wales if it is enacted”.
Please see the 2nd attachment to this e-mail regarding my speech in the debate on 23rd October 2024 against a Motion which called on the Welsh Government to: “a) support the principles of assisted dying; and b) support Westminster parliament to introduce a compassionate assisted dying law in England and Wales”.
The Motion was rejected on a free vote: For: 19, Against: 26, Abstain: 9.
I fully respect your position on an important matter which provokes strong personal feelings in all of us.
On the basis of all the evidence I have seen and discussed, however, I will be unable to support the Legislative Consent Motion for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill when this is voted on in the Senedd.
If I am able to, I will speak in the preceding debate, explaining my reasons for this.
To better understand my position, I commend the book “The Reality of Assisted Dying” co-edited by Professor Ilora Finlay Baroness of Llandaff and Professor Julian C. Hughes, which includes:
“Both advocates for a change in the law and those opposing such change are motivated by compassion.
“But the complexities of the issues involved are inadequately covered in the headlines or soundbites of modern media.
“These complexities and the unintended consequences of a change in the law are of critical concern to those responsible for designing legislation and implementing change”.
Yours sincerely
Mark Isherwood MS/AS
North Wales/Gogledd Cymru