Following a vote in the Scottish Parliament in favour of assisted suicide and ahead of a similar vote at Westminster, a number of GPs, psychiatrists and campaigners have expressed deep concern about the plans.
The Scottish Parliament last night voted in favour of the general principles of a proposed bill to legalise assisted suicide.
A similar bill in Westminster will reach the report stage on 16 May, during which MPs will vote on amendments. A final vote on the bill could take place in June.
Concerns about the prospect of legalising assisted suicide have been raised not only by campaigners, but also health professionals.
Dr Lade Smith is President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has over 30 years experience in the field. Speaking to BBC Newsnight, she expressed deep concerns about the bill.
“We’re concerned that there isn’t a requirement to think about any unmet needs a person might have. So a person with a terminal illness may well be, they may be in pain, they have difficulty with their housing, their finances because they haven’t been able to work, they might feel lonely, isolated. As you mentioned, there’s no requirement to inform family members," she said.
Dr Smith also noted that the bill’s requirement that a psychiatrist give their prognosis for those considering assisted suicide does not take into account the fact that there is already a shortage of psychiatrists.
Research by the BBC also suggests that a plurality of GPs may be against the proposals. Over 1,000 GPs responded to a BBC questionnaire on the current proposals, with around half saying they were opposed to assisted suicide and calling the proposals, “cruel”, “appalling” and “highly dangerous”. Around 400 were in favour of changing the law.
Following the Scottish vote, campaign group Right to Life said, “Although the bill has passed Stage One, the vote was far closer than supporters predicted, and the bill still has a long way to go.”
The statement added, “Serious concerns remain about how this legislation would operate in practice, and the strong response from MSPs across all parties shows these issues won’t simply disappear.”
