Why I won’t be voting in favour of Scotland’s Assisted Dying Bill - Sue Webber
My mum looked at me and I don’t think she was joking. “ I hope you’re not voting to kill me,” she said.
No mum, when the Assisted Dying Bill comes up for its third reading debate on March 17 I’ll not be voting to kill you.
But as she’s in her 80s and undergoing cancer treatment she’s very much the kind of person its supporters have in mind.
Of course it’s not about compulsory euthanasia for the terminally ill, but the legislation opens the door for elderly people nearing the end of their lives to be vulnerable to subtle coercion to speed up the process.
In two weeks this deeply flawed legislation could become law, and for such an emotional issue I was absolutely sickened by last week’s celebratory statement from Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur, who is piloting the bill through the Scottish Parliament, after the Welsh Senedd and Jersey’s States Assembly both voted to legalise – let’s call it what it is − assisted suicide.
Mr McArthur was “delighted” at the “landslide victory” and how it was a “historic moment” like an election night, not solemn decisions with grave consequences. It should be greeted with sadness that enough politicians are persuaded it’s necessary because too many people are not receiving adequate end-of-life care to enable them to see out their days in comfort and dignity.
It’s no cause for celebration that elected representatives are making it easier for health authorities to absolve themselves of responsibility to ensure no-one dies in pain, when the means are available.
It just lets governments off the hook for not accepting hospices should be an essential part of the NHS, not just left to charities vulnerable to the thoughtless actions of tax-hungry civil servants.
Before MSPs vote on Mr McArthur’s bill, over 300 amendments need to be discussed next Tuesday and we’ve been given until 10pm to do it. It is an extraordinarily small amount of time for so many proposed changes to something with such massive implications.
For example, doctors and nurses might find themselves in breach of contract if they opt out of whatever system is introduced. What if a family complains? What are the consequences of medics following their consciences? We have a day to work out this and 200 other problems.
But Mr McArthur was in such a rush to force through his legislation that he wanted the full debate to take place after the debate on the amendments had concluded and before MSPs had a chance to grapple with the reality of what’s left. Indecent haste isn’t in it.
Fortunately that was rejected and the final debate and vote takes place a week later, but because MSPs are free to follow their consciences, there are no teams of party researchers to drill into the details and we must come to our own conclusions.
Maybe that is a good thing, but there is no escaping the responsibility we all face, not just to the terminally ill, but to us all.
I certainly won’t be voting to kill my mum, but Liam McArthur and plenty of others are effectively going to make it easier to do just that, and if this bill passes, I hope they can live with the consequences. Because experience in other countries shows hundreds of others won’t have that choice.