As Holyrood votes on assisted suicide this week…….what kind of country will Scotland become?
Palliative care is very limited in hospitals where the majority of people die. Painful experiences of watching a loved one die are not uncommon in hospitals that do not have the expertise nor resources to provide a level of care for those who are dying. Hospices provide an incredible service to those who are dying and their families but hospices are not supported adequately by government funding and they are limited in number.
The legalising of assisted suicide does not address this problem. Instead by legalising and assisting a person to takes his or her life sanctions the deliberate killing of another person who needs my care . It changes the character of the one who assists to an acceptable executioner. Society no longer cares for but discards the patient. In a country already struggling to provide elderly care, assisted suicide offers an easy solution to the crisis. You cannot restrict killing if it is permissible. Pressure will grow for others to make that brave decision to no longer be a burden to society including those whose medical care is too costly, the disabled and chronically ill. The fundamental nature of society will change as can be seen in countries like Canada where it is easier to get assisted suicide than to get a wheelchair or the Netherlands where euthanasia is available for children and infants. What kind of country will Scotland become?