Kirk maintains opposition to assisted suicide

The Church of Scotland has chosen to maintain its historical stance against legalising assisted suicide.

Refusing to compromise its position, members of the denomination’s General Assembly voted by 216 to 104 to “reaffirm” its opposition to assisted suicide.

Earlier this month, MSPs agreed to advance Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill, which would enable adults deemed to be terminally ill to get help to kill themselves.

Slippery slope

The Assembly rejected a motion, proposed by the Theological Forum and Faith Action Programme Leadership Team on Assisted Dying, to drop its principled opposition and simply note “the diversity of views in the Church” on the issue by four votes.

Instead, Commissioners backed a counter-motion introduced by Revd Alastair Cook, which acknowledged the diversity of views, but re-affirmed “the Church of Scotland’s opposition to assisted dying”.

Revd Cook told the Assembly: “The wisest advice I ever heard on this matter was from a retired Christian lawyer who said you cannot allow the principle, once the principle is conceded the door is open and cannot be easily be shut and the safeguards cannot bear the weight put upon them.

“Moderator, we cannot allow the principle, I urge Commissioners to support this counter-motion.”

Palliative care

The General Assembly also affirmed “that every human being is made in the image of God with inherent dignity and worth”.

It warned that “the introduction of Assisted Dying legislation has the potential to negatively impact the quality and accessibility of palliative and end-of-life care”.

As such, the Assembly called on the Scottish Government “to prioritise development of excellent palliative care services to ensure that they are universally available”.

Holyrood

Following a recent debate in Holyrood, MSPs voted 70 to 56 in favour of Liam McArthur’s plans to legalise assisted suicide.

The legislation will now progress to stage two, where it will be examined further, and amendments will be debated and voted on before it returns to the chamber for its final vote.

Several MSPs said they only voted in favour in order to give the Bill extra time for debate, and only eight would need to change their vote at stage three to prevent the Bill becoming law.

‘Don’t risk it’

Speaking powerfully against the Bill, disabled Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “I know many of you have doubts about this Bill, and you are right to. If it passes, there is a risk that it will be easier to access help to die than help to live, and I cannot support that.

Sue Webber, Conservative MSP for the Lothian region, highlighted the influence of her constituents, saying: “Coming into Parliament in 2021, I looked far more favourably on this Bill than I do now. I have changed my mind.

“Thousands of emails, hundreds of discussions have led me to believe this: Despite the very best of intentions at the heart of this Bill, the risks that it introduces are real and serious. And so like many this afternoon, I say ‘Don’t risk it’.”

Independent MSP John Mason, citing evidence from countries with assisted suicide laws, observed: “However tight we make a system to start with, experience shows that it becomes looser and looser.”