New assisted suicide bill tabled in Scottish Parliament

Christians have warned against proposals to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland, saying that they could lead on to vulnerable people feeling pressured to finish their lives.

The warning followed the introduction of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which was recommend by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur on Thursday. 

The bill would open up assisted suicide to consenting adults who’ve “a complicated and progressive disease, illness or condition from which they’re unable to get well and that may reasonably be expected to cause their premature death”. 

It marks the third try and legalise assisted suicide in Scotland after an analogous bill was defeated in 2015. 

Simon Calvert, a deputy director of The Christian Institute, said that people who find themselves elderly, sick or disabled could feel like a burden on their families and the NHS.

“Removing end-of-life protections would make vulnerable people consider it’s in everyone’s best interests that their lives are cut short,” he said. 

“It will hasten the deaths of 1000’s. Jurisdictions across Europe and North America have invariably seen eligibility criteria widening, often staggeringly quickly and the numbers of individuals dying rising yr on yr. Why would Scotland be any different?”

He said that efforts should as an alternative be focused on improving the standard of end of life care. 

“Many with degenerative illnesses or incorrect prognoses have spoken of how glad they’re that assisted suicide was not available to them because of their darkest moments they might have taken that option, after which missed out on years of constructing blissful memories with their family and friends,” he said.

“We must be sure that people in these difficult situations have access to the very best quality treatments or palliative care, fairly than, as a society, telling them their lives aren’t price living.

“I wish those campaigning so hard for sick people to commit suicide would invest their money and time in campaigning for improvements to healthcare as an alternative.”

Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, representing the Catholic Bishops Council of Scotland, called McArthur’s bill “an attack on human dignity that introduces the thought into our culture that a citizen can so lose their value that society endorses their life as not price living”.

“Evidence from countries where assisted suicide or euthanasia is legal shows that as much as half of the elderly and vulnerable who go for assisted suicide did so because they felt pressured to finish their lives through fear of being a burden,” he said.

“For them the potential of assisted suicide was less about having a ‘right’ to die and more about feeling the total weight and expectation of an obligation to die. No law on assisted suicide can ever avoid laying such an unfair burden on our fellow residents especially on the very moment they find themselves most vulnerable.

“When vulnerable people, including the elderly and poor, express concerns about being a burden, the suitable response will not be to suggest that they’ve an obligation to die; fairly, it’s to commit to meeting their needs and providing the care and compassion they should help them live.”

Dr Gillian Wright, from Our Duty of Care (ODOC), an alliance of healthcare professionals against assisted suicide, said the priority ought to be “well-funded, accessible, top quality palliative take care of all”. 

“The primary danger of assisted ­suicide is that individual lives are devalued by society because they’re unwell, disabled, confused or that their contribution to society is perceived to be minimal,” she said. 

“The secondary danger is that ­terminally unwell and disabled individuals may begin to devalue themselves due to the burden that they ­perceive they’re to society. In a ­cruel twist, possible laws on assisted suicide, that’s designed to empower, can have the effect of eroding the autonomy of probably the most vulnerable.”

Michael Veitch, Scotland Policy Officer at Christian Action Research and Education (CARE), said there had been no change to the “significant” body of evidence concerning the “dangers” of legalising assisted suicide because it was last debated within the Scottish Parliament. 

“In fact, it has grown significantly given events in jurisdictions reminiscent of Canada. If this practice becomes an option for patients in Scotland, the ‘right to die’ could turn into a ‘duty to die’ for individuals who feel they’re a burden,” he said. 

“Terminal prognoses are fraught. Coercion of patients is inconceivable to rule out, as is expansion of laws,” he said.

“Expert doctors warn that end-of-life care can be severely impacted. And disabled people warn that ‘assisted dying’ sends a regressive message about their quality of life. We urge MSPs in all parties to reject this bill on the earliest possible stage.”

Chris Ringland, Public Policy Officer, of the Evangelical Alliance Scotland said he was “deeply concerned” concerning the implications of the bill and “the message it sends about how we value our family and friends who’re at the tip of their life”.

“Rather than providing autonomy and freedom, this proposed law would fundamentally change our NHS and palliative care, creating disturbing anxiety for terminally unwell patients about ‘being a burden’ by continuing to live,” he said. 

“Our membership believes everyone seems to be created equal within the image of God – and subsequently terminally unwell patients shouldn’t need to think twice about whether their life is price continuing.”