Autonomy v Public Safety – Care Not Killing Scotland

Autonomy v Public Safety

Key Points

Read Next :

If you think legalising euthanasia or assisted suicide is just about giving choice to a few people dying with a terminal illness, think again.

It ends up putting thousands of people into a position where they feel they have no choice.

Choice for a few means pressure and coercion for many.

Even with the best of intentions, assisted suicide laws inevitably put thousands of people under complex pressures which limit the freedom of their choice.

Individual autonomy is never absolute.

It exists within a framework of responsibility and consideration for others so is always limited by the rights, well-being, and freedoms of others, as well as by the broader needs of society.

A person does not have a right to exercise automony when it leads to harm or risks that negatively affect others or conflict with public interest.

It’s normal for society to limit personal autonomy to protect vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly, or people with disabilities, ensuring that their rights and needs are respected.

It’s impossible to legislate safely for assisted suicide without negative outcomes for thousands of people.

ELDERLY
PEOPLE

VULNERABLE
PEOPLE

PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES

PEOPLE IN
POVERTY

Even people who support it in principle feel it is too complicated to be safely implemented in practice

56%, of those who express an opinion, support legalising assisted dying / assisted suicide in principle but feel there are too many complicating factors to make it a practical and safe option to implement in Britain.

(Whitestone Insight surveyed 2001 GB adults online between 5 and 6 June 2024)

If we elevate the importance of personal choice over public safety, to legalise assisted suicide, then we are devaluing those vulnerable groups.

Legalising assisted suicide will, over time, alter the way our society views and treats elderly, disabled, or vulnerable people.

A healthy society should assist vulnerable, disabled, and terminally ill people in how to live their lives, rather than how to die.

Should not our priority first be to fix the vital ecosystem of social care and palliative care?

Read Next :

Promoting Care, Opposing Euthanasia

Care Not Killing was set up in 2006 as an alliance of individuals and organisations which brings together disability and human rights groups, healthcare providers, and faith-based bodies, with the aims of promoting more and better palliative care; ensuring that existing laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide are not weakened or repealed; and helping the public to understand the consequences of any further weakening of the law.

Get in touch

Care Not Killing Scotland
6 Marshalsea Road
London SE1 1HL

Media enquiries:

Please contact Tom Hamilton Communications on 07836 603977

Connect with us

Contact us

Message us via this site

Care Not Killing Scotland is a trading name of CNK Alliance Limited, a Limited Company in England and Wales, Company No. 06360578

© CARE NOT KILLING SCOTLAND - All rights reserved

website by RAMPANT LION MEDIA