North Wales MS speaks against assisted dying consent motion
Sam Rowlands MS has said he is “unwavering” in his opposition to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, calling on the Senedd to reject the consent motion that was approved by 28 votes to 23 on Tuesday night.
The Conservative Member of the Senedd for North Wales spoke against the Legislative Consent Motion in the chamber in Cardiff Bay before voting against it.
The motion was not a vote on whether assisted dying should become legal.
It was a vote on whether Welsh ministers should have the power to design and oversee how any future assisted dying system would operate within NHS Wales, including safeguards, oversight and Welsh-language provision.
Mr Rowlands told the Senedd his opposition was “founded in my Christian faith, that it is not right for this Bill to proceed, because no matter their health, no matter their stage of life, every person is precious, every life is of equal worth, and our laws and healthcare system should always reflect that.”
He raised concerns about patient safety, legal clarity, inequality and constitutional accountability, saying: “The fact is that granting consent now would embed into Welsh health services a practice that remains deeply contested.
“The Bill is still in Committee Stage with, as we’ve heard from others, over 1,000 amendments yet to be resolved.”
Mr Rowlands said the bill would create a contradiction in how Welsh health services treat patients.
“At a time when we rightly invest in suicide prevention and tell vulnerable people their lives matter, we must confront the contradiction of facilitating suicide as a medical service in certain circumstances,” he said.
“Doctors, as we know, are guided by the principle to first do no harm.
“This Bill would place our clinicians in Wales in conflicting roles, preventing suicide in some patients while validating it in others.”
He argued the priority should be palliative care, saying: “If we are serious about dignity at the end of life, our priority should be universal access to high-quality palliative care, not the introduction of assisted suicide into mainstream practice.”
He said: “I am deeply against the principle of assisted dying which is actually assisted suicide and it places health professionals in an extremely difficult position.
“We should be supporting people to live.”
Mr Rowlands later appeared on ITV Wales’ Sharp End programme to reiterate his concerns.
Both of Flintshire’s constituency Senedd members, Jack Sargeant MS (Alyn and Deeside) and Hannah Blythyn MS (Delyn), voted in favour of the motion.
Among the other north Wales regional members, Llyr Gruffydd MS (Plaid Cymru) and Mark Isherwood MS (Conservative) voted against.
Carolyn Thomas MS (Labour) did not vote.
First Minister Eluned Morgan MS and Health Secretary Jeremy Miles MS both voted against the motion despite the Welsh Government maintaining a neutral position on the bill.
The bill has already cleared the House of Commons and is at committee stage in the House of Lords, where more than 900 amendments have been tabled.
If the bill does not pass before the current parliamentary session ends in May, it would need to be reintroduced.
If the bill does become law, a further Senedd vote will be required after May’s Welsh elections before services can be introduced in Wales.
Criminal law on suicide remains reserved to the UK Parliament.
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