North East Scotland

Dundee City East

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Stage 3 of the Assisted Dying Bill has been a marathon and I wanted to thank you for being so diligent in the scrutiny of this Bill.  However it remains deeply flawed and lacking in key safeguards. 

Key sections of the Bill on conscientious objection and the training of health care professionals were removed, leaving gaping holes in the democratic accountability of the Bill.  The Scottish Parliament cannot pass a Bill when they have not seen or have input into these key sections.  Without sight of the Section 104 how can MSPs have confidence in the law that they are enacting.  Particularly a law that is so consequential.  This was confirmed by Liam McArthur during the debate. 

The risk of coercion for vulnerable groups such as those suffering domestic violence or disabled people remain. Coercion is difficult to detect as countless research shows and the risk for many in this Bill is very real. Anni Donaldson and Tanni Grey Thompson spoke about this powerfully when they met with MSPs a couple of weeks ago.

I was pleased to see that some safeguards were passed but they are not enough.  They require doctors to document that an individual is being coerced and yet no training on how to identify coercion is included in the Bill.  I was struck by the example Michael Marra gave of Victoria in Australia where training on detecting coercion amounted to around 5 minutes of an 8 hour programme.

I also welcome amendments to increase the emphasis on palliative care but we know from a survey of palliative care specialists that around 75% of them would consider leaving the service if Assisted suicide was made legal in Scotland.  It is hard to see how we can improve palliative care provision without the specialists to deliver the service.

Like others I was particularly concerned to see that the clause allowing doctors to raise the issue of Assisted Dying with the patient remains.  I agreed with Daniel Johnsons comments that Assisted Dying should not be equated with healthcare.  And recent polling shows that 84% of the public do not think doctors should be raising the subject of an assisted death and it should be patient led.

After many hours of debate there is still confusion and ambiguity around key sections of the Bill and how it will work in practice. Too much of this Bill requires other people to legislate, set guidance and regulation.   This is a Bill where mistakes can and will be made, and surely even one mistake under a system of assisted dying is one too many.

Please vote against this Bill on Tuesday.