Assisted Suicide Scottish Parliament Bill Debate

The topic of assisted suicide is an emotive one, and any decision should not be taken lightly, or on the wishes of a very vocal minority group. This Bill has a champion in Margo McDonald MSP, herself a Parkinsons Disease sufferer, so it already has a well educated, experienced spokesperson. She does a magnificent job in putting her own, and others who feel like her, opinions across. Margo is the best argument that particular lobby has, and without her the subject would have stumbled and faltered long ago. 


However, and it is a big however, this subject has to be bigger than one person, and not only that, it should be bigger than any single, though very vocal, minority. There is another, strong view that goes in the opposite direction. Somehow, I believe this view to be in the majority of thinking. I believe Assisted Suicide is a bad Bill, and would be a bad law, for the following reasons.


1. There are some people who want the right to end their lives at the point of their choosing. Not now, but at some time in the future. All of these people have serious health problems, which cannot be minimised. We didn't choose the time of our entry into this world, should we have the right to choose the time of our departure? Not everyone believes in God, but I do, and if there IS a God, should we not at least give Him some thought?


2. If we give the right to end life as chosen by law, and by that vocal minority, what does that say to our other ill, or diseased elderly people who could then feel unwanted, or a burden on family or society? Anyone who has been around an ill elderly person, would have come across the words, 'but I don't want to be a burden'! Does that mean they want to bring forward the time of their death? Absolutely not! BUT, they might feel it is something they should be thinking about, due to unspoken pressure. If a law is passed to allow assisted suicide, it will be in older folks thinking, even if we do not speak it out loud. Do we want to unsettle our already frail elders?


3. This bill, and this debate is being conducted by people who want someone else to step in, on their behalf, when they can no longer commit suicide by their own hand. There is an underlying, but very obvious almost unspoken element to this. People (yes who have serious illnesses) want to put the onus and responsibility on another to kill them. It isn't a government who would do this, it would be a person whether they knew it or not. This then becomes not assisted suicide, but assisted murder, because it is premeditated (by the victim!). 


4. If we take step 3 a stage further in our thinking, why do the people who advocate this type of 'mercy killing' (killing is a better word than suicide) not do it themselves, while they can? This sounds cruel and unfeeling, but what is really being proposed, is the act of suicide being changed into an act of murder, by person or persons unknown. If we really think we want to end our own lives, while we have the ability, why put that awful responsibility on someone else? Why not do it yourself while you can? Suicide is not illegal, but murder is!


5. What kind of pressure are we putting our young up and coming student doctors, under? They take a 'hypocratic oath' to help save life, and in fact the opening words contain the statement, 'first do no harm'. How does that square with the training of our doctors in the NHS? At this point we can get into the argument of the practice of 'withholding treatment' to allow a dying patient to pass away peacefully. This passive kind of treatment and choice should never be confused with the active decision of doing something, not in the attitude of 'doing no harm' but totally against that commitment. All doctors, do not believe in God, but they ALL take the hypocratic oath.


6. What kind of NHS do we end up with? That depends entirely on the success or otherwise of the 'assisted suicide' bill.


Yes, as I said at the start, this is an emotive issue, and you now know where I stand. If you feel differently, or if you agree, I would urge you to tell your MSP. At least then, they will know what the real people think, not just a few who make their voices heard in the debating chamber. Oh by the way, I speak from the experience of losing both parents and a wife to diseases which would qualify for assisted suicide under this proposed bill, so I know what I am saying. The biggest difference in my experience is that at no time did any one who was suffering say the words, 'I'ts about me' or 'I want', or acted in a selfish way, which you would think would be their right. When I listen to the debates, I often hear words like, 'this is my right', or 'my basic human right' or 'I want'. There is a great big difference between the base attitude of the very vocal minority, and the selfless, silent majority, and how good it is to be with them, and share their LIFE. All of it!!