Sturgeon is ‘more open’ to assisted dying for Scotland
Leader reveals view has softened since voting down old plan
I am always very moved by people whose.. terminal illness has meant they’ve been in a position where they think they perhaps would have wanted to have the right to assisted dying NICOLA STURGEON ON RIGHT-TO-DIE DEBATE
NICOLA Sturgeon says she is “more open” to legalising assisted dying after being moved by the plight of terminally ill Scots.
The First Minister opposed a right-to-die law seven years ago but says she has no “concluded view” on new proposals.
Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur is consulting on a Bill which would introduce the right to an assisted death for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
Under his plan, two doctors would have to independently confirm the person meets the criteria and the individual would sign a written declaration.
Critics say assisted dying could put pressure on vulnerable people and act as a slippery slope to more extreme proposals.
A previous attempt to change the law was rejected by MSPs in 2015.
Sturgeon was among those who opposed that Bill, arguing that she had not been convinced.
She revealed to the Record a significant shift in her thinking, saying: “I haven’t come to a concluded view this time.
“I’ll be really honest, it’s an issue I really struggle with. And I will have to come to a view on it before Parliament votes on it again, and I will.
“I think my mind is more open to it than it perhaps has been in the past.
“And like everybody else, I am always very moved by people whose – themselves or family – terminal illness has meant they’ve been in a position where they think they perhaps would have wanted to have the right to assisted dying.” She added: “Equally, and this is the thing I’ve always struggled to get over, is my concern about how would you ever put sufficient safeguards into a system, where you can be certain that people – elderly people in particular – didn’t almost feel a sort of pressure in some circumstances, or where it could be abused?
“The other thing I feel strongly about, but this actually applies whatever route we take on assisted dying, is that allowing people to have good deaths through good palliative care is really important, and I think it’s vital we don’t lose focus on that.
“I will continue to talk to people, to consider all the arguments, before coming to a view on how I would vote.”
Jeane Freeman, Sturgeon’s former health secretary, told the BBC in December that she supports making assisted dying legal.
“My bottom line is I would want this for myself and my loved ones,” she said.
Current Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has said he is “not persuaded” of the case.
McArthur’s consultation has attracted more than 10,000 responses.
But Stuart Weir, director of campaign group CARE for Scotland, said: “The First Minister’s statement that she is ‘more open’ to assisted suicide proposals will be alarming to those most opposed to a change in the law – members of the disabled people’s community.
“Disabled people’s lives are already devalued and will be further stigmatised if ‘assisted dying’ reaches the statute book.”