Scottish Council on Human Bioethics

15 Morningside Road, Edinburgh EH10 4DP, Tel: 0131 447 6394 or 0774 298 4459

Conference Report

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: An American perspective for Scotland in view of Jeremy Purvis MSP’s consultation on a Scottish Bill for Assisted Suicide

11 May 2005

Organisers: Scottish Council on Human Bioethics

Venue: Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh

Participants: Around 40 persons were present

SCHB participants: Several members of SCHB were present

Participation on behalf of the SCHB:

Mr. Wesley J Smith gave a presentation relating to the dangers resulting from euthanasia and assisted suicide in America.

Personalities Present:

Michael Matheson MSP, Michael McMahon MSP, Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Jeremy Purvis MSP, Milne Nanette MSP

At this meeting, Mr. Jeremy Purvis MSP indicated that he wanted to initiate a discussion about life, palliative care, death and dying. In this respect, he noted that one of the most important issues related to the debate on assisted suicide was the concept of autonomy. Thus it was because he believed that persons should have the right to kill themselves, at the end of their lives, that he wanted to introduce a bill into the Scottish Parliament on assisted suicide.

On the other hand, Mr. Wesley Smith, who is a lawyer from the USA, indicated that autonomy should have its limits in the context of end of life issues. During his presentation, he also noted that it was often the disability rights activists who were most strongly opposed to the legalisation of assisted suicide. In this respect, he emphasised that human dignity could not be lost though one could suffer with the dying person. In regard to the Netherlands, Mr. Wesley Smith noted that there were very few prosecutions against physicians with respect to assisted suicide and euthanasia. This had led some people in this country, who were afraid of involuntary euthanasia, to carry ‘life passes’ stating that they do not want to be killed should they lose the capacity to communicate their wishes. Finally, he indicated that a real danger existed of suicide tourism being increasingly considered by a number of people across Europe.