Assisted dying plans in Scotland should go further, says Dignitas

Plans to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill in Scotland discriminate against those with other debilitating health conditions, Dignitas has said.

The assisted dying organisation in Switzerland backed proposals to change the law in Scotland, but suggested they did not go far enough.

It said the UK had been “outsourcing the issue of assisted dying to Switzerland” for many years.

Dignitas said close to 500 UK residents, including 16 from Scotland, had been forced to travel overseas to access its service.

Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur wants to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur has lodged a proposal for a Bill at Holyrood that would allow terminally ill and mentally competent adults to end their lives.

Two doctors would need to confirm a person was terminally ill and mentally competent, and there is a suggested reflection period of 14 days.

More than 14,000 individuals and organisations responded to a consultation on the plans – the largest ever public response to a members’ Bill in Holyrood.

A clear majority, 76 per cent, backed the legislation.

However, critics have raised numerous concerns. Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, a permanent wheelchair user, previously called the plans "dangerous for disabled people".

In its response, Dignitas, which was founded in 1998, described the proposed legislation as an “important step forward” in resolving the “inadequate and incoherent” legal situation in Scotland.

But it made some criticisms, including around the proposed safeguards.

It suggested there should be no period of reflection as, in its experience, people will have already made up their minds.

The organisation added: “Any timeframe – 30, 14 days, or shorter – leads to possibly prolonging the suffering.”

Dignitas said the Swiss legal system required no such waiting period “and it does not appear to have posed a problem in 35 years”.

It also said involving two separate doctors “adds an unnecessary hurdle that consumes time which a rapidly declining individual may have little left of, and it prolongs the suffering”.

Elsewhere, it said: “To only allow access to assisted dying for individuals who are terminally ill (as defined in the consultation document) is to discriminate against individuals who suffer from health conditions that are, by medical opinion, not ‘progressive’ and ‘reasonably expected to cause death’.

"For example, individuals such as the late Paul Lamb, who was paralysed from the neck downwards after an accident, and who fought in the UK courts to obtain access to assisted dying."

Mr Lamb, from Leeds, died at the age of 65 last year.

Dignitas said people with “severe psychiatric ailments” would also be discriminated against.

Ally Thomson, director at Dignity in Dying Scotland, which campaigns for assisted dying and has worked closely with Mr McArthur, said: "This is the right Bill on the right terms. It is a measured and compassionate reform that puts safety and transparency for dying people in place where none currently exists.

"The safeguards contained in the proposed Bill are tightly drawn by design. They have been proven to work in places like Australia and the US and they also make sure that the Bill does as intended – lessen unnecessary suffering for dying people.

"The proposals are intended for terminally ill adults to make sure they have what they need, excellent care and more choice in order to have a peaceful death that is right for them.”