Kirk moderator raises fears assisted dying safeguards will be 'loosened'

The moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly has raised concerns that plans to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill are a slippery slope and safeguards will be "loosened" over time.

The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields drew comparisons with abortion legislation, which he said is now "very liberally interpreted".

He fears assisted dying will eventually lead to people "having decisions made about them by others that they would not necessarily make themselves."

Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur plans to introduce a members' bill on the issue in early 2023. It would allow mentally competent adults who are terminally ill 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.

Assisted dying legislation is expected to be introduced in the early part of 2023.

Speaking to The Scotsman, Dr Greenshields said: "My concern, and I think the Church's concern – and I'm not just talking about the Church of Scotland here; I think the Catholic Church would agree with us as well – is that the interpretation of the law could become a problem later on.

"You start off by saying you would need to have all kinds of protections to make sure that the individual's concerns were properly protected in making the right decision, but then you will end up with a loosening of the way in which that will be interpreted."

He added: "That's the concern. When you look at something, for instance, like the abortion act – the abortion act was proposed for a limited number of cases and now it's very, very liberally interpreted, and it's our concern that that's where it would eventually lead, to where people will be having decisions made about them by others that they would not necessarily make themselves."

Dr Greenshields said there needs to be more investment in hospice care. He said: “That would be something that we would be encouraging the Government to do, because where hospice care is good, I think there's two things – I think families are given the opportunity to spend good time with a relative as they're dying, and I think the person who is dying is given the best possible care they can be given in the process of dying."

He said there will be those within the Church who disagree, but the Kirk works by consensus.

He said: "There are always things that people will have a contrary view on, and it's good to hear the contrary opinion, because it creates good debate and it means that we arrive at good decisions because of that."

Elsewhere, Dr Greenshields backed the creation of drug consumption rooms, but stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity. He has previously spoken in favour of decriminalising drug possession and believes addiction should be treated as a public health issue.

Mr McArthur said his bill “offers the option of an assisted death to terminally ill, mentally competent adults only, if that is what they choose for themselves”.

He added: “It would work alongside high-quality end-of-life care and is a measured, safeguarded and compassionate reform already available to terminally ill adults in places like Australia and New Zealand.

“Many dying people and those with experience of a loved one suffering a bad death responded to the bill consultation to say that it is a reform that is much needed and long overdue.”