Pastors and Christian leaders across Scotland have signed an open letter to MSPs urging them to vote against a draft bill that seeks to legalise assisted suicide.
Over 60 leaders have signed the letter organised by the Evangelical Alliance Scotland. They include Josh Johnston, Minister of The Tron Church in Glasgow; Stuart Weir, head of CARE for Scotland; Lynne Paterson, head of Evangelical Alliance Scotland; and Chris Ringland, public policy officer, Evangelical Alliance Scotland.
They said that the bill "undermines the value of life and lacks the safeguards needed to protect those most at risk from being coerced into premature death".
"International evidence reveals that initial safeguards in assisted dying laws are often weakened over time. Instead of facilitating death, the focus should be on improving palliative care to offer dignity to the dying. Compassion involves sharing in the suffering of others and serving them, seeking to reduce suffering, not end the life of the sufferer," the letter reads.
"There are significant moral and ethical concerns surrounding the reduction of life to questions of utility or functionality. By prioritising individual choice, we risk ignoring the broader consequences on healthcare professionals who commit to act for the good of their patients, on family members burdened with the aftermath, and on wider society.
"It isn’t an exaggeration to say this would be one of the most important changes in legislation our country will ever see – a fundamental ethical shift.
"Protecting the most vulnerable members of society should be our primary concern. The healthcare system is already rife with inequalities that disproportionately affect those who are elderly, have disabilities, are from minority ethnic backgrounds or are living in poverty. Rather than addressing these disparities, this bill risks exacerbating them."
A crucial vote on Liam McArthur's bill is taking place at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday evening. It is not the final vote on the legislation but will allow the bill to be scrutinised and bring it one step closer to becoming reality.
Opponents include all three of Scotland's most recent First Ministers, John Swinney, Humza Yousaf, and Nicola Sturgeon.
Sturgeon wrote on Instagram on Monday, “It would risk a situation in which a right to die might become, in the minds of some people, a perceived duty to die.”
Campaigners against assisted suicide will be protesting outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday ahead of the vote. Among them will be Silent Witness actor Liz Carr and disabled Scottish Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy.
Duncan-Glancy suggested it was unethical to legislate "for the state to assist someone to take their own life, and in almost every other circumstance we want the state to legislate for people to live and live well”.
“No one wants to be in pain; I have lived with chronic pain for 41 years, but the answer should be to ensure that as much palliative care should be in place as possible," she told the Guardian.
McArthur's Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is far broader than a similar bill being considered in Westminster as it does not impose a time limit. The Westminster bill requires that applicants for assisted suicide are expected to have less than six months left to live.
