Assisted dying could be ‘revolution’ for ‘relief of suffering’, MSPs told

Legislating for assisted dying could provide a “revolution” for those suffering a terminal illness, similar to the introduction of analgesia for childbirth, MSPs have been told.

Supporters of the measure insisted it could provide a “massive way forward, in terms of the relief of suffering” as they claimed that “many hundreds” of Scots have to endure a “very painful death” each year.

However, those opposed to making the change insisted that safeguards in the Holyrood legislation – which has been proposed by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur – are “not sufficient”, as they argued that “assisted dying is inherently dangerous to legislate for”.

Speaking about the proposals in Mr McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, Gordon Macdonald, the chief executive of campaign group Care Not Killing, insisted: “You can’t guarantee that no vulnerable person will inappropriately have their life ended.”

He went on to tell MSPs on Holyrood’s Health Committee: “It is a question of how many of such deaths you are willing to accept, because you cannot have a failsafe Bill if you are talking about doctors or other individuals being allowed by the state to end people’s lives, either directly or indirectly through writing a prescription.”

However, Dignity in Dying Scotland’s director Alyson Thomson argued that not allowing assisted suicide means the law is “failing dying people and their families” and “exacerbates suffering”.

She cited data from the Office for National Statistics as showing the suicide rate for those with a terminal illness is 2.4 times higher than it is in the general population, adding: “We do know some 650 people a year across the UK take their lives when they have a terminal illness, and the amount of attempts is far higher.”

Ms Thomson insisted: “The most dangerous thing the Parliament could do here is nothing.

She continued: “The Bill is not giving a choice between living or dying, for people that choice has already been taken away. It gives a choice between two kinds of deaths.”

Meanwhile, Professor Gareth Morgan, the convener of the Scottish Christian Forum on Assisted Dying, told the committee: “This Bill offers a massive way forward in terms of the relief of suffering.

“In some ways I would describe it as being equivalent to the advent of analgesia in childbirth in terms of the revolution it could make in reducing human suffering.”

He told the MSPs: “There are many hundreds of people per year suffering very painful deaths in Scotland that would have the potential to have that avoided if this Bill was to become law.”

However Michael Veitch, Scotland policy officer for the group Care: Christian Action, Research, and Education, told the committee there were no circumstances in which assisted dying would be ethically acceptable.

He said: “We would argue assisted dying is inherently dangerous to legislate for, it cannot be made safe by definition.”

And Dr Gillian Wright, from Our Duty of Care, which represents medical professionals who are opposed to assisted dying, said that “it is wrong for a doctor to take action to assist the suicide, to vet or counsel someone to take their own life”.

She insisted: “Stepping over that line to hasten the death or take the life of a patient is a step we would not counsel.”

While she added it is “concerning” that terminally ill people can have suicidal thoughts, Dr Wright said this showed the need for improved psychological support and earlier palliative care.

Here, she argued that palliative care could be “too little to late” for some patients, adding “It is common to get a little bit of palliative care towards the end of your life but not early in the diagnosis of your terminal illness”.

Meanwhile, Mr Veitch said that people diagnosed with a terminal illness are “going to be very vulnerable to mental health, feeling very low, depressed, anxious, suicidal”.

With Mr McArthur’s Bill proposing that adults in the final stage of a terminal illness could be given help to end their life, Mr Veitch added that it would be a “tragedy” if any such people were to opt for an assisted death.

He told the committee: “The answer to the concern for this Bill is not to legislate for assisted dying – it is to invest in gold-standard palliative care all across Scotland.”

And he said “in some circumstances palliative care in Scotland is great”, adding: “If somebody with a terminal diagnosis opted for an assisted death because of the fear they would not get the care that they know they need, we think that would be a tragedy.”