MSPs have refused to limit assisted suicide to people genuinely close to death – meaning those with decades left to live could be considered under the proposed legislation going through Holyrood.
The Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee has rejected (TUE NOV 4) a series of key safeguards taking decisions which campaigners against the Bill say expose how unsafe and unbalanced the legislation has become.
After the meeting Dr Gordon Macdonald, CEO of Care Not Killing, which leads the campaign against the Bill, said:
“What we’ve seen today is a Swiss Cheese approach to legislation: vote it through now despite the holes, and promise to sort it out later. But this isn’t a minor policy tweak; it’s about life and death. On such a sensitive issue, with such serious risks to the most vulnerable, that attitude is reckless…Scotland deserves better than half-finished lawmaking. MSPs should be closing loopholes, not creating them.”
Among proposals thrown out was the suggestion of a six month prognosis meaning only those close to death would be considered for assisted suicide.
Addressing the committee, Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy said she would qualify as ‘terminally ill’ under the Bill’s definition.
She said:
“I was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis when I was 18 months old. I’m now 44, and there is not a medical practitioner in this country that would not consider my condition to be advanced and progressive.
“And it is not something I’m going to recover from. And that has been proven time and time again.
“So I meet those criteria and yes, as a result of some of the conditions that I have, my medical condition, it could cause my premature death. And so, as it stands, this legislation has no protections.”
Ms Duncan-Glancy’s proposed amendment calling for an independent safeguard was also rejected despite concerns that people place their trust in medical professionals and will follow their lead, even if it’s not what they initially wanted.
The rejected amendment stated: “A person is only eligible to be lawfully provided with assistance to end their own life if the request for assistance is made entirely by them, without any encouragement, suggestion, or initiation of discussion by a medical practitioner or other professional involved in that person’s care.”
The committee also rejected MSP Jeremy Balfour’s amendment which would have ruled out mental health, eating disorders, or feeling like a burden being reasons to seek an assisted death.
MSPs also rejected ruling out people with Down’s Syndrome, depression, anxiety disorders, reception of disability or sickness benefits, loneliness, low income poor housing conditions or mental health conditions.
Tory MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a GP, who backs the Bill, said Holyrood Parliament should not say ‘no’ to anyone who wants to seek an assisted death and added:
“It is not up to us to tell people what meaningful life is…(if) they are not getting what they need and they would like to go through the assisted dying process, we shouldn’t be there saying no.”
Another Tory MSP Brian Whittle had concerns about palliative care inequality ignored. He highlighted how access to palliative care is deeply unequal, particularly in deprived areas.
Without a safeguard guaranteeing basic provision, he warned, assisted suicide could become the “preferred option” for patients, he stated.
In addition, the health committee rejected raising the age to seek an assisted death to 25, despite the Scottish Government supporting the Scottish Sentencing Council’s position that brain maturity is not fully reached until the age of 25.
MSP Claire Baker, who proposed the amendment, said:
“The Scottish Sentencing Council, whose framework the Scottish Government accepts, states clearly that the brain does not fully mature until at least the age of 25.
“That scientific and psychological understanding guides how we treat culpability for crime, recognising that young adults may not yet possess full emotional and cognitive maturity. If that principle is accepted when determining responsibility for wrongdoing, how can it not also apply when considering a decision that is far more permanent: a decision that ends one’s life?”
Dr Gordon Macdonald said MSPs have submitted almost 300 amendments to the Bill as it stands and added:
“Serious questions remain about the safety of this legislation and It is abundantly clear that it is not fit for purpose and no number of amendments can make this deeply-flawed Bill safe.”
”In total, 287 amendments will be considered by the health committee before the end of November during a series of meetings.”
Dr Macdonald added:
“The volume of amendments reflects deep-rooted and genuinely held concerns about this Bill and its risks for Scotland’s most vulnerable. No safeguards can fully protect the vulnerable.
“MSPs from all parties are raising the alarm. The broad range of amendments covering every part of this Bill demonstrates just how deeply flawed it is.
“This committee stage is a crucial chance to examine the real consequences of assisted suicide before it were to become law.”
