Scottish Council on Human Bioethics

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

1 April 2005 - emargoed until 4 April

Press release:

House of Lords report on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill

Concerning the publication on Monday the 4th of April 2005 of the House of Lords report on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [1], the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics (SCHB) would like to make the following response:

Dr. Calum MacKellar, the Director of Research of the SCHB stated, with respect to Assisted Dying (euthanasia and assisted suicide), that "experience shows that once people are comfortable and their fears concerning suffering have been addressed, they often change their minds about wanting to end their lives."

In addition, he indicated that "the provision of hospice and palliative care have clearly shown that there is a positive alternative to euthanasia and assisted suicide which involves relieving pain rather than killing patients."

The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics concurred, furthermore, that if assisted dying were accepted by society, the manner in which society viewed both death and disability would change. In this regard, Dr. MacKellar said that "People who are difficult or costly to care for may then be seen as second class citizens. In addition, it would fundamentally change the role of doctors and other healthcare professionals, whose role has always been to cure and care for their patients, not to help them die."

The SCHB is also of the opinion that it is wrong to suggest that any person can ever loose his or her human dignity at any stage of his or her life. In this regard, Dr. MacKellar stated that "the day that society accepts that a person can loose his or her human dignity and therefore no longer deserves to live will be an extremely worrying one for humankind” adding that “even though human dignity is a belief, it is a belief that everyone should always believe is found in everyone".

Finally, since euthanasia and assisted suicide are devolved matters for the Scottish Parliament under the Scotland Act 1998, Schedule 5 (Reserved Matters), Part II (Specific Reservations), Head J (Health and Medicines), the SCHB is of the view that it would be appropriate for the Scottish Parliament to be consulted prior to any legislation being drafted in Westminster.