MSPs unite to support Liam McArthur MSP’s Assisted Dying Bill

The MSPs have issued a letter to their Parliamentary colleagues urging them to keep the voices and experiences of those most affected by this issue front of mind and to vote in favour of Bill.  The MSPs joined a photocall in support of the Bill carrying photos of terminally ill Scots and those who died a bad death and wished for the law to change.

In the letter they say that:

“On many issues that come before us in Parliament we differ in opinion, but when it comes to extending compassion and safety to dying people we are united in our support for dignity and choice.

Over the last few years, we have each heard from constituents across Scotland about the heavy toll the ban on assisted dying has taken on them and the urgent need for the law to change. We have heard from a mother who watched her son beg to die when the pain caused by his endocrine cancer became too much to bear, from a daughter who watched her mum starve and dehydrate to death over the course of 18 long days when she reached the limit of MND, from a widow who returned home to Scotland alone after accompanying her dying husband to Switzerland to face a police interview, from dying people considering how best to take matters into their own hands should their suffering become unbearable and many more people with terminal illness consumed by the fear of a protracted and painful death.

While all the experiences they shared were different in nature, there was one constant – that in each and every case a safe and compassionate assisted dying law would have lessened their pain and made both living with a terminal diagnosis and loss that bit more bearable.

In every constituency there are stories like these – real people enduring real suffering. In every single constituency the voting public support changing the law on assisted dying.

The Bill that is in front of us has been through rigorous scrutiny, is robustly evidenced and puts in place a range of protections that simply do not exist at the moment. It will make assisted dying the most safeguarded end of life option. 300 million people around the world already have access to some form of assisted dying. There is no evidence of abuse of these laws and extensive evidence to show that they address the failings created by a blanket ban on assisted dying.

The current situation can not continue – it is demonstrably cruel, dangerous and ineffective. It denies dying people choice and fails to protect anyone. By contrast Liam McArthur MSP’s Bill will create new protections for people at end of life and offers this Parliament the opportunity to put in place a safe, regulated framework that will work alongside palliative care to provide choice and compassion when people need it most. This issue is not going away, banning assisted dying does not stop assisted dying, it merely drives it overseas, underground and behind closed doors. As such, voting against this bill has serious consequences, leaving dying Scots more at risk, isolated and vulnerable.

We urge you to keep the voices and experiences of those most affected by this issue front of mind and to vote in favour of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Scotland Bill on the 17th March.”

ENDS