No Welsh NHS assisted dying service unless Senedd agrees

The Welsh NHS will only help terminally people take their lives if the Senedd agrees to it first, the Welsh Parliament has been told.

MPs passed legislation last week to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people in Wales and England.

But there has been confusion over how that might work in Wales with the Senedd, which oversees law on healthcare, having rejected a similar idea last October.

On Wednesday, Counsel General Julie James told Senedd members they would have a decision to take on whether assisted dying services would be available in the public sector.

It means if the Senedd does not agree to the legalisation it could become legal in Wales but without a service made available by the state.

Conservative Senedd member Tom Giffard said it is "essential" the Senedd has a meaningful say.

The law, which legalises assisted dying for people with a terminal illness, applies to Wales and England, but has raised constitutional questions because of the way it is written.

As well as legalising assisted death in both countries, it covers how such a system would work - getting into areas of law about healthcare normally governed by the Welsh Parliament.

As a result, there has been a debate about how much control the Senedd should have.

Last October, the Senedd voted against a motion calling for a law to allow assisted dying, albeit with a number of abstentions.

It is expected that there will be at least one vote in the Senedd on the matter - the first expected in the autumn.

The vote would not be legally binding, but would show whether the Welsh Parliament thinks the law should apply in areas it controls.

Another vote would be likely to be needed if the Welsh government wanted to operate an assisted dying service, but it may not happen if the Senedd is against the policy.

An earlier idea in the bill was for the Senedd to have a veto over all the important parts of the law - allowing MSs to decide when it comes into force.

But last week MPs decided to take that out.

On Wednesday, James - who is the Welsh government's most senior legal adviser and a MS herself - said the power was removed to avoid giving Welsh ministers powers that were outside the Senedd's control.

That is because the Government of Wales Act specifically prohibits the Senedd from amending the law on suicide.

But she added: "The bill still contains the key provisions that mean that the NHS or any public body in Wales will not be able to provide voluntary assisted dying services until regulations have been laid by ministers and there has been an affirmative vote in the Senedd to that effect."

Giffard said it was "regrettable" the "veto" power had been removed.

He told BBC Wales: "While the bill has passed through Westminster, it's important to remember that the Senedd did not support it when it was last debated.

"A decision of such gravity must not be imposed on Wales without the explicit consent of its elected representatives."

Last October the Senedd voted against a motion calling for a new law to allow assisted dying - 19 to 26, with nine abstentions.

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles and First Minister Eluned Morgan were among those opposed.

The bill in the UK Parliament was different to October's motion, with a wider scope proposing people suffering "intolerably" from an incurable physical position should have the option of assisted death.

James indicated to the Senedd that the Welsh government would remain neutral on the bill. All three Senedd parties had a free vote the last time the matter came to the Senedd.

A three person panel will decide individual patient requests for assisted dying.

Mabon ap Gwynfor, of Plaid Cymru, told the Senedd that as things stand there "won't necessarily be an ability for all members of that panel to operate through the medium of Welsh".

He said patients will have to request the use of the language from any assisted dying service, "without it being a natural choice which is offered".

James said Health Secretary Jeremy Miles have been in "constant contact" with Kim Leadbeater - the MP who has proposed the legislation - "and those matters have included Welsh language considerations".