Scotland: Eleventh hour plea to MSPs to reject assisted suicide

Bishop John Keenan, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, is urging members of the Scottish Parliament to consider the vulnerable and vote against assisted suicide. 

He said that MSPs face the “binary selection” of permitting a “recent autonomy for some” or protecting hundreds of “fearful” Scots.

On Tuesday, MSPs will likely be voting for the ultimate time on Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which might make it legal for terminally unwell adults in Scotland to hunt an assisted suicide. 

It differs from separate laws being considered for England and Wales in that it doesn’t include a prognosis of six months to live as certainly one of the eligibility criteria. Instead, eligibility could be based on the clinical judgement of two doctors. They must even be resident in Scotland for at the very least a 12 months.

Bishop Keenan said that voting in favour of McArthur’s bill would “change healthcare eternally” in Scotland.  

“The Scottish Parliament stands at a moment of profound moral consequence,” he said. 

“This Bill is a serious threat to vulnerable Scots, including the elderly, disabled, those that suffer from poor mental health, and victims of domestic abuse. In a world that always prizes independence, those that are vulnerable can easily feel like a burden.” 

He expressed disappointment that MSPs have did not back quite a few safeguards, including one that will have prevented doctors from with the ability to raise assisted suicide unprompted with patients, a choice he said “dismantles hundreds of years of Hippocratic tradition of ‘first do no harm’”.

“This decision only adds to already significant concerns expressed by MSPs concerning the risk of coercion, demonstrating a keen awareness of their responsibility to guard vulnerable people from this threat,” he said.

“The crucial conscientious objection clauses that offered protection to doctors have been stripped out of the Bill which suggests MSPs will likely be asked to vote on an incomplete Bill devoid of a key protection for healthcare staff.” 

He noted that the failure to incorporate this safeguard has prompted each the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Scotland to maneuver from a position of neutrality to formal opposition to the Bill.

Another measure that MSPs did not back and which is of great consequence to the Catholic Church would have allowed institutions to opt out. Without this measure, Catholic hospices and care homes face having to be involved in assisted suicides against their will, or else close down. 

The unnecessary closure of Catholic hospices and care homes could be “a hammer blow to an already creaking palliative care system”, he said.

“True compassion shouldn’t be present in killing but in walking with those that suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent value,” he said.

“Every person – no matter age, illness, disability, or circumstance – is a present from God,” he said.

“There is not any such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society shouldn’t be to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

“I understand how the selection before our MSPs is unenviable, since it is now a binary one; either they vote to permit some residents a recent autonomy, or they vote to guard hundreds of vulnerable and fearful Scots who don’t want this laws and who will suffer most if this Bill passes.

“They cannot do each at the identical time, and I might urge them, within the last evaluation, to consider those that, within the months and years ahead, will find themselves defenceless and who, at this moment, are depending on them most.

Christian charity, CARE for Scotland, echoed these concerns, calling the Bill “dangerous, divisive and damaging”. It can also be appealing to MSPs to vote the laws down and as a substitute focus efforts to enhance access to palliative care.

CARE for Scotland Policy Officer, Michael Veitch, said: “There is little doubt that assisted suicide will harm essentially the most vulnerable across Scotland.

“Our history as a nation cries out against this approach. We have a legacy of being caring and compassionate, but assisted suicide is the very opposite.

“We urge MSPs to contemplate the stakes which are involved.” 

He continued, “MSPs should hearken to the opinions of those that could be most impacted by assisted suicide, including those living with a disability. 

“Their view is evident: it is a dangerous Bill that may make them feel a burden.

“I urge MSPs to shut the door on assisted suicide and focus efforts and energy on improving access to palliative care across Scotland.”