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Assisted Suicide (Scotland)

Publication

  • July 2024

Liam McArthur MSP has introduced a Bill to enable people in Scotland deemed to be terminally ill to get help to kill themselves.

Its supporters insist that ‘safeguards’ will be built in. This is just a tactic to crack the law open. No such safeguards exist. Once the principle of assisted suicide is accepted, eligibility criteria get wider and wider, as we have seen in other countries.

Assisted suicide denies the value of human life made in the image of God. It pressures vulnerable people into ending their lives prematurely for fear of becoming a burden. The choice to die very quickly becomes a duty to die.

The Bill’s supporters say it’s about compassion. But true compassion for those who are terminally ill means valuing their lives, giving them hope and supporting high-quality palliative care for all who need it.

References

References

  1. 1 Daily Record online, 14 September 2023, see https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/holyrood-would-need-westminster-green-30935361 as at 26 June 2024
  2. 2 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary,, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 14
  3. 3 Oral evidence: Assisted dying/assisted suicide: House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, 27 June 2023, HC 711, Q200
  4. 4 Daily Record online, 14 September 2023, see https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/holyrood-would-need-westminster-green-30935361 as at 26 June 2024
  5. 5 ‘Disabled people like me fear assisted suicide: it suggests that some lives are less worth living’, Jane Campbell, The BMJ Opinion, 6 February 2019, see https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/02/06/disabled-people-like-me-fear-legal-assisted-suicide-it-suggests-that-some-lives-are-less-worth-living/ as at 26 June 2024
  6. 6 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16; Regional euthanasia review committees: Annual Report 2013, September 2014, page 9
  7. 7 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16
  8. 8 ‘Late Termination of Pregnancy Commission Category 1 (LZA1)’, Dutch Society for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, see https://www.nvog.nl/themas/kwaliteit/commissies/commissie-late-zwangerschapsafbreking-categorie-1-lza1/ as at 26 June 2024
  9. 9 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 3; Oregon Death with Dignity Act – 2013, Oregon Public Health Division
  10. 10 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2021 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2022, page 14
  11. 11 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 9
  12. 12 Ibid, page 12
  13. 13 ‘Eligibility for medical assistance in dying for persons suffering solely from mental illness extended to March 17, 2024’, Government of Canada, 9 March 2023, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2023/03/eligibility-for-medical-assistance-in-dying-for-persons-suffering-solely-from-mental-illness-extended-to-march-17-2024.html as at 26 June 2024
  14. 14 ‘New medical assistance in dying legislation becomes law’, Government of Canada, 17 March 2021, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2021/03/new-medical-assistance-in-dying-legislation-becomes-law.html as at 26 June 2024; ‘Legislative Background: Bill C-7: Government of Canada’s Legislative Response to the Superior Court of Québec Truchon Decision’, Government of Canada, 1 September 2023, see https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/ad-am/c7/p1.html#intro as at 26 June 2024
  15. 15 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2002, page 11
  16. 16 Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, Health Canada, October 2023, page 20
  17. 17 Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia, Press Release, Euthanasia – Figures for 2023, 27 February 2024; Sixième rapport aux Chambres législatives (2012-13), Commission Fédérale de Contrôle et d’Evaluation de l’Euthanasie, January 2015, page 7
  18. 18 Kantar, BMA Survey on Physician-Assisted Dying, October 2020
  19. 19 Proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill Potential Impact on Palliative Care Services, Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland, February 2023
  20. 20 Holyrood online, 30 November 2021, see https://www.holyrood.com/comment/view,associate-feature-getting-it-right-for-everyone-at-end-of-life as at 26 June 2024
  21. 21 The Mail on Sunday, 23 June 2024
  22. 22 Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, Health Canada, October 2023, pages 20-21
  23. 23 AP News, 11 August 2022, see https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867 as at 26 June 2024
  24. 24 Toronto Star online, 18 November 2022, see https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/we-re-all-implicated-in-michael-fraser-s-decision-to-die/article_a1b6e5c4-354b-58b3-9ec8-0dd8d3f53325.html as at 26 June 2024
  25. 25 Ottawa City News, 14 October 2022, see https://ottawa.citynews.ca/local-news/ontario-man-applying-for-medically-assisted-death-as-alternative-to-being-homeless-5953116/ as at 26 June 2024
  26. 26 Maclean’s online, 30 November 2022, see https://macleans.ca/society/food-bank-pandemic-need/ as at 26 June 2024
  27. 27 BBC News online, 1 February 2024, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68120380 as at 26 June 2024
  28. 28 BBC News online, 14 January 2023, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64004329 as at 26 June 2024
  29. 29 ‘Mature minors’, Dying with Dignity Canada, see https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/advocacy/mature-minors/ as at 26 June 2024
  30. 30 Weibe, K and Mullin, A, ‘Choosing death in unjust conditions: hope, autonomy and harm reduction’, Journal of Medical Ethics, 26 April 2023 (published online ahead of print), pages 1-6
  31. 31 Research Co, 5 May 2023, see https://researchco.ca/2023/05/05/maid-canada-2023/ as at 26 June 2024
  32. 32 The Walrus online, 30 May 2023, see https://thewalrus.ca/assisted-dying/ as at 26 June 2024
  33. 33 Not Dead Yet UK briefing note, February 2019, pages 5-8, see http://notdeadyetuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/not-dead-yet-uk-briefing-note-as-polls-feb-2019-final.pdf as at 21 December 2021; ‘Disabled people like me fear assisted suicide: it suggests that some lives are less worth living’, Jane Campbell, The BMJ Opinion, 6 February 2019, see https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/02/06/disabled-people-like-me-fear-legal-assisted-suicide-it-suggests-that-some-lives-are-less-worth-living/ as at 26 June 2024
  34. 34 Scope, Press Release, Scope concerned by reported relaxation of assisted suicide guidance, 20 January 2018
  35. 35 Submission by Inclusion Scotland, Proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill
  36. 36 Liz Carr speaking on BBC Radio 4, Woman’s Hour, 9 May 2024, from 16:35
  37. 37 The Times online, 8 November 2020, see https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/age-scotland-chief-calls-for-review-into-number-of-do-not-resuscitate-orders-cnfcdgs2h as at 26 June 2024
  38. 38 Equality in residential care in Scotland during coronavirus (COVID-19), Equality and Human Rights Commission, December 2020, pages 4 and 10
  39. 39 Submission by Law Society of Scotland, Scottish Parliament Equalities and Human Rights Committee inquiry into the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Equalities and Human Rights, 26 May 2020, page 16
  40. 40 Frustrated, Angry and Unfair: Staff Experiences of DNAR Decision-making in 2020, The British Institute of Human Rights, February 2021, page 18

Image attributions

Attributions

  • fp Lady top: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-tired-ill-sick-lonely-disappointed-2115835502

  • fp Lady bottom: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/elderly-woman-gazing-and-smiling-from-side/22072974

  • fp Syringe: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/dog-vaccination/49538122

  • p2 Glasgow Disability Alliance logo: https://gda.scot/

  • p2 Crowd: https://www.123rf.com/photo_47163140_crowd-of-people-walking-on-the-busy-city-street.html

  • p2 Lady and carer: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/home-care/44037868

  • p3 Liam McArthur: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-57546716

  • p4 Hospital ward: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/drip-on-the-background-of-doctor-walking-down-the-hall-gm856544894-141125919

  • p5 Hand: https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-patient-image26611189

  • p5 Canadian Mental Health Association logo: https://cmha.ca/

  • bp Liz Carr: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-england-uk-june-28-2023-2324486113

  • bp DNR image: https://www.123rf.com/photo_8223234_do-not-resuscitate-dnr-form-with-pen-and-ekg-tracing.html

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