CAMPAIGNERS have urged Scottish First Minister John Swinney to “protect vulnerable and marginalised Scots” by publicly opposing proposed assisted suicide legislation at Holyrood.

The proposals, put forward by Lib Dem MSP Liam MacArthur and currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament’s health committee, aims to give terminally ill adults the right to request help in ending their own life.

Mr MacArthur said: “I am confident that my proposals represent a robust and well safeguarded Bill, allowing Scots access to the choice of an assisted death if they have an advanced, progressive terminal illness and the mental capacity to make the decision.”

But many remain unconvinced, and his Bill is facing widespread opposition from disability rights organisations amid fears it may not only be open to abuse, but that people may be effectively coerced into taking their own life by being made to feel a burden, or by the unscrupulous seeking financial gain. 

The Better Way campaign has written to Mr Swinney calling on him to break his silence and make his position on the matter clear, telling the First Minister: “As experts in medicine, disability, sociology, law, and other fields, we believe ‘assisted dying’ is inherently unsafe, and practically unworkable.

“We would urge you to protect vulnerable and marginalised Scots and maintain your opposition to this practice. Scotland can articulate a better way forward.”

Warning backing the Bill would jeopardise his duty in “upholding the safety, dignity, and equality of Scottish citizens,” they added: “Failings and abuses under ‘assisted dying’ laws are intrinsically linked to people who already face inequalities of various kinds: lonely elderly people; the disabled people’s community; and people facing poverty.

“The practice also places highly vulnerable citizens at increased risk of harm.”