Legalising assisted suicide in Scotland would ‘undermine’ value of human life

Scottish politicians have been warned against legalising assisted suicide as Holyrood prepares to scrutinise a Bill brought forward by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur. 

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would make it legal for terminally ailing people aged 16 and above in Scotland to be prescribed lethal drugs from doctors to finish their lives. 

In a submission to Holyrood’s Health Committee, Christian charity CARE for Scotland said that the law was morally impermissable.

The submission argues that the proposals would put vulnerable people at profound risk and be “detrimental” to the connection between doctors and patients.

Authored by CARE for Scotland policy officer Michael Veitch, it says that medical professionals shouldn’t be involved in assisting someone to finish their life, and that assisted suicide shouldn’t be thought to be ‘treatment’. 

It says that there isn’t any safeguard that may prevent undue pressure being placed on someone to finish their lives by assisted suicide and warns that not only terminally ailing people but additionally those with disabilities and older people “may feel subtly pressured to finish their lives prematurely as a consequence of attitudinal barriers in addition to the dearth of appropriate services and support”.

“Our guideline is that we affirm the inherent value of each human life – no matter age; physical, mental, or emotional health; or disability,” the submission reads.

“A principle recognised through the pandemic when the elderly and infirm were prioritised for vaccination and protection.

“This principle is undermined by laws that allows the terminally ailing to finish their lives. Physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are usually not private acts.

“They involve an individual bringing concerning the death of one other. The societal implications of such a law change have serious implications.” 

Mr Veitch went on to warn that in areas where assisted suicide has already been introduced, original safeguards have later been rebranded ‘barriers’ and removed. 

He also questioned the suggestion that assisted suicide is a painless and “easy alternative” to living with a terminal illness.

“Evidence suggests that this just isn’t the case with some individuals experiencing long deaths and awakening from the cocktail of medicine, which places patients, families and their doctors in extremely difficult situations,” he said. 

He stated, “Endorsing a medical path to ending an individual’s life undermines fundamental ethics; endorses the assumption that certain lives are not any longer value living; and radically alters the character of the doctor-patient relationship by undermining the Hippocratic Oath to first ‘do no harm’.”