By Mike Judge, Evangelical Times.
Just an hour ago, the Scottish Parliament voted to reject the legalisation of assisted suicide by 69 votes to 57. This is cause for profound gratitude. Christians across the United Kingdom should give thanks to God that this deeply troubling proposal has been turned aside.
The bill, brought forward by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, would have allowed terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to obtain medical assistance to end their lives. Scotland would have joined that minority of dark places which says some lives are no longer worth living.
In effect, this bill would have invited the medical profession to cross a moral boundary that civilised societies have long recognised: the deliberate taking of innocent human life. Instead, MSPs have refused to take that step. For now, Scotland has been spared the establishment of a system in which doctors help patients to die.
A victory for truth and compassion
Many people worked tirelessly to ensure that legislators understood the dangers of the proposal. Constituents contacted their representatives. Medical bodies and disability groups warned about the risks to vulnerable people. Church leaders from a range of traditions – including the Church of Scotland, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Free Church of Scotland – publicly appealed to MSPs to reject the bill.
Their message was simple and profoundly Christian, ‘True compassion does not mean helping someone to die, but committing ourselves to care for them in life.’ That statement captures a truth which modern society often forgets. Compassion is not measured by how quickly we remove suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but by our willingness to bear one another’s burdens.