Liam McArthur accused of ‘shameful dodge’ during assisted suicide debate

Just a number of days remain until the Scottish Parliament votes on the controversial assisted suicide bill brought forward by Liam McArthur MSP.

Members of the Scottish Parliament are still engaging in debate and voting on amendments on the difficulty, but already the failure of some amendments has raised alarm bells amongst pro-life groups.

Right To Life UK said that it was “profoundly concerning” that MSPs have already voted down “an amendment that might have prevented people selecting to die because they feel a burden or are under undue influence or financial pressure”.

Of similar concern was the apparent refusal of McArthur to rule out doctors euthanising patients in cases where assisted suicide has failed. While it could seem that the 2 are the identical, the excellence lies in who “pushes the button”.

Assisted suicide requires patients to manage deadly substances to themselves, even whether it is within the presence of and with the permission of a medical skilled.

When asked by a fellow MSP what doctors should do in cases where the deadly drugs fail to take effect, McArthur said, “I’d expect the medical professionals to exercise the training, the judgement they need to make the patient comfortable.”

Care Not Killing Scotland described the reply as a “shameful dodge” that might effectively mean “euthanasia by the back door”. Similarly, Anthony Horan, Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office for the Catholic Church in Scotland, described McArthur’s comments as “an astonishing development”.

During the controversy, numerous MSPs pointed to the experience of jurisdictions which have already legalised assisted suicide.

Conservative MSP Sue Webber, said, “In Canada, it has been found that palliative care resources were disproportionately consumed by MAiD [medical assistance in dying] requests, while non-MAiD patients had reduced access to palliative care. Research must prioritise how AD/AS laws might not directly affect look after people nearing end-of-life, with strategies to mitigate opposed impacts.”

Meanwhile, Ruth Maguire of the SNP, noted that in Oregon the median time between ingestion and death is 53 minutes. However she also noted that in not less than one case an individual took greater than five days to die and in a 3rd of cases it isn’t known how long the death took.