Audrey Nicoll MSP has announced her withdrawal of support for Liam McArthur’s assisted suicide Bill.
As a former police officer and convener of Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee, the SNP MSP explained that her experience with the “most vulnerable” in society has convinced her that changing the law would result in some people being coerced into an assisted suicide.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which would allow those deemed to be terminally ill who have been resident in Scotland for at least twelve months to get help from a medic to kill themselves, passed Stage 1 by 70 votes to 56. Several MSPs said they only voted in favour of the proposals to allow time for debate, and with Nicoll’s withdrawal of support, only six more need to follow suit for the Bill to fall at the next vote.
Coercion and pressure
In an open letter to her fellow MSPs, Nicoll explained: “The reality is that some individuals will be subject to coercion and pressure, whether directly or indirectly and in ways which may be subtle and difficult to enunciate.”
“The bill has significant ethical, social and legal implications, and given the experience in other jurisdictions where practice has shifted away from that originally intended, I am not currently reassured that a timely post legislative scrutiny process would take place.”
The MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine explained that her greatest concerns “are the provisions around coercion,” adding how “a significant number of reasonable amendments were rejected” at the Committee Stage.
‘Troubled waters’
Chief Executive of Care Not Killing Dr Gordon Macdonald warned that there is “a growing apprehension among MSPs that the bill is not legislatively competent — a view held by health secretary Neil Gray”.
He noted: “With discontent among MSPs and no guarantee of support from London, the assisted suicide bill finds itself in troubled waters, confronting potentially increasingly insurmountable difficulties.”
Last month, a cross-party group warned that McArthur’s Bill “risks creating a society where people chose to end their lives through the NHS because they can’t get support to live”.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Scottish Conservative Edward Mountain, and Scottish Labour’s Michael Marra said “too many reasonable amendments” have been rejected — including those seeking to address the crime of coercive control and the drugs to be used — posing “serious implications for people across Scotland”.
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