As the Scottish Parliament enters the final stages of its deliberations on the issue of assisted suicide, 188 medics have written to MSPs saying that legalising the controversial practice comes with “serious risks”.
Holyrood is expected to hold its final vote on assisted suicide on 17 March. While similar legislation in Westminster is believed to be dead in the water, in Scotland the final vote is expected to be very close.
In their open letter, the doctors and nurses note six broad concerns about the bill: the threat of coercion, the inability to change one’s mind, safeguards for the mentally unwell, provision for doctors with conscientious objections, and the failure to meet the social needs of patients and to provide good palliative care.
Dr Jonathan Blackwell, one of the signatories of the letter, said, “We care for people at their most vulnerable. In our professional judgement, the Bill as it stands does not contain sufficiently robust safeguards to protect patients from coercion, untreated mental illness, or unmet social and palliative care needs.
“This is not a theoretical debate for us – it concerns the safety of real patients. Before Parliament proceeds further, we believe these issues must be addressed.”
Last week seven medical bodies also expressed their “significant collective concern” about the proposed law, among them the Association for Palliative Medicine (Scotland), Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
In addition to medical concerns, a range of Scottish church leaders have also expressed their objections to the bill.
The churches, who share many of the same concerns as the medical professionals, said in their own open letter, “True compassion does not mean helping someone to die, but committing ourselves to care for them in life."
