More Scots oppose introducing assisted suicide for those with “incurable” illnesses than support it, a new poll has indicated.
Of 156 people from Scotland surveyed by YouGov in a bimonthly tracker, 38 per cent said the “law should not be changed” to “allow someone to assist in the suicide of someone suffering from an incurable but NOT terminal illness”, with 33 per cent saying it should be changed.
This is the second time the tracker has reported more opposition than support in Scotland, although across Great Britain, a total of 41 per cent of 1,750 adults supported assisted suicide for those with incurable but not terminal illnesses, with 32 per cent against.
Vague
Under the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, those who have been resident in Scotland for at least twelve months could get help from a medic to kill themselves if they are deemed to be terminally ill.
But ‘terminally ill’ is merely defined as 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”.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray has admitted that Scotland cannot implement the proposals if they become law, and he has asked the UK Government to grant the relevant devolved powers.
Disability
Earlier this month, First Minister John Swinney stated that MSP Liam McArthur’s assisted suicide Bill discriminates against vulnerable people with disabilities.
During First Minister’s Questions, John Swinney agreed with MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy that the Bill presents an “unsurmountable risk to disabled peoples’ equality and human rights”.
The Labour MSP was citing Tom Cross KC’s legal opinion on the Bill for The Christian Institute, in which he warns it would unfairly discriminate against people with conditions such as autism, bipolar disorder and depression.
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