The well-funded assisted suicide pressure group Dignity in Dying has taken out full front-page adverts in multiple Scottish national newspapers, lobbying for the Scottish assisted suicide Bill, prompting a major backlash, amidst concerns that the adverts promote and sanitise suicide..
As written, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would legalise assisted suicide for adults resident in Scotland with no prognosis requirement specified. Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are expected to vote on the proposals later this month on Tuesday March 17.
The adverts, which appeared as the front page of The Herald, The Scotsman, and The Metro, caricature suicide as a “choice”, and do not even make it clear that they relate only to suicide for the terminally ill, prompting criticisms that they glamorise suicide more widely.
Consultant psychiatrist and former Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Eating Disorder Faculty, Agnes Ayton, simply asked “Why is this allowed?”
Dr Cajetan Skowronski, a geriatric and palliative care doctor, also criticised these adverts, urging people in Scotland to “Say no to NHS suicide”.
Attorney Erwan Le Morhedec said that the amount of money behind the pro-assisted suicide lobby enabling these adverts was “staggering”, arguing that it amounted to “pro-euthanasia propaganda”.
The adverts appeared the week before Stage 3 debates in the Scottish Parliament.
Experts concerned that vulnerable people would not have a free choice at the end of life if assisted suicide is legalised
Recent polling surveyed members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow on the practicalities of implementing the assisted suicide bills in England, Wales, and Scotland, should they become law.
The poll revealed that a majority of respondents in Scotland who took a firm view – 73.53% – did not believe that the proposed safeguards against coercion in the legislation were practical within current service structures and protocols. This means that the majority of members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow who took a firm view believe that there are concerns about a lack of real choice at the end of life under the Scottish assisted suicide Bill.
Additionally, a majority of respondents in Scotland who took a firm view worried that they would face challenges in being able to competently assess individuals’ eligibility for assisted suicide based on their capacity, or to reliably assess whether coercion was present. Of those who took a firm view, 90.43% of respondents believed that they would face challenges in assessing an individual for a lack of coercion, while 86.46% feared that they would face challenges in assessing an individual’s capacity.
Given that the vast majority of members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow who responded to the poll and took a firm view are very concerned about the potential for individuals to be coerced into ending their lives, and the potential for those who lack capacity to be deemed eligible for assisted suicide, it is clear that, under the Bill, there would be no real choice for vulnerable people.
Dr Morven McElroy, Honorary Secretary at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, said “The survey has shown that if the bills were to become law, there is a strong need for greater clarity to protect both patients and doctors”.
“Respondents to the survey were particularly concerned about the challenges of assessing whether a patient has made their decision voluntarily, and their capacity to make that decision”, she continued.
MSPs have voiced concerns that assisted suicide would not be a real choice for vulnerable people
Many MSPs have shared their concerns that, due to the lack of adequate social, palliative, and end-of-life care in Scotland, many vulnerable individuals could feel swayed into ending their lives because other options are inaccessible.
Speaking during a convening of the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee in November, Jeremy Balfour MSP argued that those who are struggling with disability or despair could be pushed towards an assisted suicide, when really these vulnerable people need care and compassion, calling it a “profound moral error”.
Bob Doris MSP reiterated this, stating that vulnerable people can “feel like a burden”, arguing that they deserve compassion and care rather than being left behind.
Brian Whittle MSP argued that, due to the lack of access to care that many vulnerable people face, assisted suicide could become the default option.
“My concern is that, if we do not put in place some sort of safeguard around a right to what we define as a basic level of palliative care, assisted dying may become a preferred option for patients because of the lack of suitable and deliverable palliative care”, he said.
Rhoda Grant MSP agreed, saying, “I have concerns that, should it become law, people will opt for assisted dying due to a fear of having little support at the end of their lives”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “These advertisements are very disturbing. Those endangered by the assisted suicide Bill cannot afford such publicity or the glossy branding of Dignity in Dying, whose adverts sanitise the reality and hide the risks of the Bill”.
“It is notable that these adverts, which are deeply irresponsible as they come close to promoting suicide, focus relentlessly on ‘choice’. But choice is an illusion when access to high-quality palliative and social care is lacking, meaning poorer people who can’t afford such care would have no meaningful choice if assisted suicide were introduced”.
“This radical view of autonomy, that fails to understand the contexts that may lead people to wish to die or recognise the vulnerable people who would be put at risk, is profoundly at odds with a compassionate society which offers support, not suicide”.
“MSPs should not be swayed by a powerful lobby machine. This Bill must be rejected”.
