Scottish politicians have been warned against legalising assisted suicide as Holyrood prepares to scrutinise a Bill brought forward by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would make it legal for terminally ill people aged 16 and above in Scotland to be prescribed lethal drugs from doctors to end their lives.
In a submission to Holyrood's Health Committee, Christian charity CARE for Scotland said that the law was morally impermissable.
The submission argues that the proposals would put vulnerable people at profound risk and be "detrimental" to the relationship between doctors and patients.
Authored by CARE for Scotland policy officer Michael Veitch, it says that medical professionals should not be involved in assisting someone to end their life, and that assisted suicide should not be regarded as 'treatment'.
It says that there is no safeguard that can prevent undue pressure being put on someone to end their lives by assisted suicide and warns that not only terminally ill people but also those with disabilities and older people "may feel subtly pressured to end their lives prematurely due to attitudinal barriers as well as the lack of appropriate services and support".
"Our guiding principle is that we affirm the inherent value of every human life – regardless of age; physical, mental, or emotional health; or disability," the submission reads.
"A principle recognised during the pandemic when the elderly and infirm were prioritised for vaccination and protection.
"This principle is undermined by legislation that permits the terminally ill to end their lives. Physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are not private acts.
"They involve a person bringing about the death of another. The societal implications of such a law change have serious implications."
Mr Veitch went on to warn that in areas where assisted suicide has already been introduced, original safeguards have later been rebranded 'barriers' and removed.
He also questioned the suggestion that assisted suicide is a painless and "easy alternative" to living with a terminal illness.
"Evidence suggests that this is not the case with some individuals experiencing long deaths and awakening from the cocktail of drugs, which places patients, families and their doctors in extremely difficult situations," he said.
He stated, "Endorsing a medical route to ending a person's life undermines fundamental ethics; endorses the belief that certain lives are no longer worth living; and radically alters the nature of the doctor-patient relationship by undermining the Hippocratic Oath to first 'do no harm'."
