Harvie gives backing to assisted dying bid
AGLASGOW MSP has backed calls to give people with terminal illnesses help to end their own lives. A third attempt is being made to pass legislation on assisted suicide in Scotland.
Liberal Democrat MP Liam McArthur is putting forward proposals for a Members Bill at Holyrood which, if passed, would permit assisted dying for adults who are both terminally ill and mentally competent.
Almost nine out 10 Scots (87%) are said to support the introduction of such legislation, Mr McArthur said, though a previous bid to change the law at Holyrood was voted down by 82 votes to 36 in 2015. Co-leader of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie is one of the bid to “introduce safe and compassionate assisted dying laws in Scotland”.
The Glasgow MSP, below, said: “There is growing recognition across all parties in parliament that a law on assisted dying is needed.”
It is a hotly debated topic and opponents claim it would devalue the lives of disabled people and the vulnerable. Michael Veitch, the parliamentary officer at the charity Care For Scotland, said: “This law affect the small number of individuals who might choose to access assisted suicide.
“It will affect every person living with a terminal illness, fundamentally alter the doctor-patient relationship, devalue disabled people’s lives, and undermine wide efforts to prevent suicide.
“There can be no adequate safeguards. Vulnerable patients can be coerced.
“And the experience of other jurisdictions shows that an incremental extension of the law is inevitable.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show, Mr McArthur said: “I would refute that and refute it very robustly.
“This is not about assisted suicide, this is not about those who want to die.
“This is about giving those who have a terminal illness, who have been given a terminal diagnosis the opportunity, the choice for a more compassionate and dignified death.”