Assisted Dying Bill fails in the Scottish Parliament

[Walterohwalter]

What are your thoughts? Please comment here on Scotsnet or on this thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5330691-assisted-suicide-bill?

Very disapopinting. I'm guessing those who voted against have never seen a relative spend their final months in agony.

This. Very disappointing.

Sorry but I don’t think that’s fair to say. Everyone is allowed their own opinion and it is a very emotive topic.

As I understand it, there were a lot of issues with the bill itself and mostly relating to UK law, so Holyrood can’t change them. There were a number of MSPs that voted for it in the early stages and ultimately voted against after the 5 days of discussion.

More needs to be done to improve both palliative care and care for the elderly.

I also feel assisted dying should be on a case by case basis and not a chargeable offence.

I feel very strongly about it, having spent 5 months watching my dad die from a horrid cancer. His last weeks on this earth were pain filled and agony, for him and me and that was with a brilliant palliative care Consultant on board. I'll never get over seeing it, to be honest and it's made me dread getting any form of terminal illness. The NHS is fucked beyond repair, palliative care/hospices are mainly charity funded and it's all well and good muttering we need better but that isn't happening in my lifetime. My Dads cancer meant that his liver couldn't metabolize pain meds and it was horrific. No palliative care could have made his death any better in truth. But being able to take a medication to end his pain when he chose would have been so much kinder.

its a very tough issue - the fact that the disability charities and the medical profession weren’t behind the bill makes me think that this bill wasn’t right. It’s better if a better bill that is better thought out passes than that this particular one did.

I haven’t read anywhere the defeat was caused by a bad bill driven due to uk things that can’t be changed - rather that the campaign focused too much on testimony and not on making sure they had broad support.

How assisted dying bill collapsed after fierce lobbying

www.thetimes.com/article/6613b2dc-6754-40ed-8c79-d7883355fc0e?shareToken=5f9cbe456d94c8d10bce2fc36df6843e

I have.
But I'm also acutely aware of the shortcomings of the assisted dying bill and the care those with disabilities receive.

If we abolished the death penalty because of the risk of executing an innocent person, then it holds we should reject such bills until strong safeguards are in place for the vulnerable in society.

Those who use the argument of suffering in one's final days are unaware of their own privilege, which isn't to detract from the agony and grief they've both witnessed and experienced. They've never experienced the danger and risk that comes with being a vulnerable member of society until the end, which means they fail to understand how careful we need to be with assisted dying legislation, or how misplaced their faith in the system is.

I am very much in favour of assisted dying and would welcome appropriate legislation, this bill is not it.

Instead of being disappointed that its been rejected, try to see it as a step in the right direction. Hopefully, we will end up with legislation that protects the vulnerable as well as helping those who wish to control the manner of their death.

As it wouldn’t help people with dementia, which is the worst thing I’ve witnessed & my greatest fear, I wasn’t too invested. If you have sufficient capacity you could end your own life. It is dementia sufferers that can exist for years and years with no way out and ni medical means to help.

After watching my DF slowly and painfully slipping away and then taking matters into his own hands to end his life I fully support assisted dying. Yes, we need better palliative care but let's face it, we are years away from something that is consistently acceptable.

I think they made the right decision, this is a bad bill.

The Bill wasn’t fit for purpose, there was too much reliance on medical professionals being able to spot coercion and not enough safeguards for vulnerable people. I agree with the principles, but this Bill wasn’t safe enough.

I have supported 3 different close relatives in their final months. I still don’t support this bill.

There is entirely too much risk that disabled, poor or otherwise vulnerable people will be nudged, encouraged or pushed towards assisted suicide.

The outcome of the Canadian MAID laws in 2016 and 2021 have not provided any confidence. I saw a stat suggesting that 5% of deaths in Canada are assisted suicide. That’s pretty alarming.

I’ve been primary carer for a younger sister, mother, father, grandparents suffering from cancer and lost my brother to early onset Alzheimer’s. I do believe in assisted dying. This bill was a pile of shit and I wouldn’t support it. There had been very little engagement with professional medical bodies (almost all of whom were against). My father had excellent palliative care; the others not so much. My sister was very badly treated. Once they decided there was to be no further treatment she was abandoned to a care home for the elderly (she was in her 40s) because radiotherapy meant she couldn’t manage the stairs to her upstairs toilet. Absolutely horrible for her young teen children to see their mum like that. But she did have an element of quality of life and she wanted to live as long as she could, despite her pain. She needed better care, not death.

I think you also have to consider the number of “inheritance” posts on here where posters are rubbing their hands with glee at their expected windfalls and see how easy it would be for concern to be confused with greed.

As @Jellycatspyjamasand @SomedayIllBeSaturdayNightsay, a bad bill, not fit for purpose. The Scottish Parliament have to seriously up their game when it comes to legislation.