From: Evangelical Focus. (image: Vishnu Prasad/Unsplash)
Leaders from over 60 churches across all Scottish Parliament constituencies signed a letter to Scottish Parliament members (MSPs) asking them to stop the bill on assisted dying.
‘The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill’ is expected to be debated and voted on at ‘stage 1’ on Tuesday, 13 May. If it passes, it will progress to ‘stage 2’, where it can be amended. If it doesn’t pass, the bill won’t progress any further and won’t become law.
This draft law for Scotland describes terminally ill people as those who “have an advanced and progressive disease, illness or condition from which they are unable to recover and that can reasonably be expected to cause their premature death”.
Such a definition, say the church leaders, opens a “potential wide eligibility” which “does not include a prognostic timescale”.
Despite being addressed by the bill, the risk that patients are coerced into asking for assisted dying remains real because neither the text of the law nor a Policy Memorandum specify how doctors and nurses should assess potential coercion, these Christian leaders say. “Vulnerable patients may feel pressured by family members or caregivers, whether explicitly or implicitly, especially given the rising costs of care. Capacity assessments for assisted suicide are complex, and the individuals closest to the patient may be reluctant to carry them out due to the implications”.