People who are vulnerable must be protected from feeling pressure to take their own lives.

Elderly people and disabled people can feel a burden on their family, friends and care givers. Patients with frailty, terminal illness or cognitive impairment may have a low view of their own value and importance to others. These are the people who will be put at risk by changing the law to legalise state-assisted suicide. These are the people for whom the right to die can feel like a duty to die.

The Oregon Health Authority annual report from 2019 shows that 59% of people opting for assisted suicide mentioned the fear of being a burden on family, friends, or caregivers as a factor in their decision. This increased from only 13% in 1998 when it was first legalised. This increase demonstrates one of the subtle and dangerous factors that inevitably leads to a rise in the number of assisted suicide deaths year on year.

Some campaigners for a change in the law accept the perception of being a ‘burden’ as a valid reason why some people might choose to opt for assisted suicide or euthanasia. Yet clinical evidence suggests that patients with chronic and terminal illnesses, despite being vulnerable to depression and suicidal ideation, through care and support, can be helped to value the time that they may have left. A compassionate Scotland is one which cares for its oldest, sickest and its most defenceless citizens. It should not be putting them in a position of feeling that they’re a burden on the rest of society and they should end their lives.

It is really important that politicians are open to hearing all the evidence from other countries of the harmful effects of legalising assisted suicide. We need to improve how we care for people, not kill them.