Political correspondent, BBC Wales News
BBCA woman who is “terrified” of being “trapped” in pain has said assisted dying should be available to all those “suffering intolerably”.
Gemma Williams, from Carmarthenshire, has lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than 20 years and said her condition can affect her sight, leave her unable to leave bed and cause real pain.
On Friday MPs will vote on proposed legislation to allow people in England and Wales approaching the end of their life to access medical help to die.
However, opponents say the plans are “unsafe”.
“It’s awful when I’ve had periods where I’m just in so much pain on a daily basis,” said Ms Williams, from Llanddeusant.
“Luckily I know that there’s been periods of remission, and it has eased, but if that was my reality and it was going to be there all the time I really don’t know how I would deal with that.”
The 47-year-old said she believed assisted dying should be available for all those “suffering intolerably”.
“You can have the best palliative care in the world and still be in pain and suffering,” she said.
“Why prolong it and be forced to go on suffering?
“It’s wrong that somebody else should tell me I have to continue living in agony when I don’t want to and there’s no way of alleviating that pain.”
House of CommonsWhat is the assisted dying bill?
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
It proposes letting terminally ill people end their life if they:
- are over 18, live in England or Wales, and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months
- have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure
- are expected to die within six months
- make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die
- satisfy two independent doctors that they are eligible – with at least seven days between each assessment
Critics of the bill include Paralympian and House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Grey-Thompson.
“The current bill is unsafe, this is not about the principle, it is about the detail,” she told BBC Wales.
“The bill would allow any doctor to raise this no matter how vulnerable the patient is, including those with learning disabilities.
“Private for profit contractors can run the service with no profit cap and no transparency obligations,” she added.
What is the assisted dying vote on Friday?
On Friday MPs will vote on whether to pass or reject the entire bill.
If they vote in favour, it will move on to the House of Lords for further consideration. If they do not support it, the bill will fail.
When MPs last voted on the bill in November it was backed by 330 votes to 275.
Of Wales’ 32 MPs, 23 voted in favour, six voted against and three did not vote.
However, Labour MP for Vale of Glamorgan Kanishka Narayan has already said he will vote against the bill on Friday having supported it in November.
Narayan told BBC Wales that while he believed “in the principle” of assisted dying, “the safeguards currently present leave just too many vulnerable people exposed to either misinformed or coerced death”.
Meanwhile, Labour MP for Rhondda and Ogmore Sir Chris Bryant – who abstained in November – has said he will back the bill this time.
Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts has supported the legislation to date and ahead of Friday’s vote said “we cannot look away from suffering simply because the legislation is difficult”.
However her Plaid colleague Ann Davies will vote against the bill, and said she was “not convinced this legislation provides adequate safeguards for the most vulnerable”.
Monmouthshire Labour MP Catherine Fookes said she would back the plans after seeing her father’s experience with illness and palliative care.
“Sadly, the current law is failing too many terminally ill people,” she said.
How would assisted dying work in Wales?
Before a vote is held on the bill as a whole, the Commons will first have to complete discussions and vote on outstanding amendments, including one that relates to the power of the Welsh Parliament.
Following a previous change to the bill, as things stand the Senedd would have the right to choose when most of the bill would become law in Wales.
Leadbeater is seeking to reverse that, leaving the Senedd with powers over how the system would work within the Welsh NHS, but not over the law as a whole.
Members of the Senedd (MSs) voted against the principle of an assisted dying law last October, with 19 in support and 26 against.
Among those opposed at the time were First Minister Eluned Morgan and Health Minister Jeremy Miles – senior figures in the government who would be tasked with implementing the bill in Wales.
If the bill completes its journey through the UK Parliament and becomes law, the Senedd would have to vote again on whether they agree with the legislation.
It is expected that vote would take place in the autumn.
