Scots mum fears her Down's Syndrome son would be ‘vulnerable' if Assisted Dying bill is passed

Scottish Sun

11-05-2025

MSPs are set to vote on the controversial bill this week
MOTHER'S CONCERN Scots mum fears her Down's Syndrome son would be 'vulnerable' if Assisted Dying bill is passed
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A MUM made an impassioned plea to Scots politicians fearing her Down's Syndrome son would be 'at risk' if they pass Holyrood's Assisted Dying Bill.
Legislation to allow terminally-ill people to take their own life will be voted on by MSPs on Tuesday after the proposal was put forward by the Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur.
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Collects of mum Angela Mui and son Stephen., Credit: Collect
Credit: Collect
However many conditions like Down's Syndrome could be swept up in the new law as it is technically termed a 'terminal' illness because of associated heart defects that will likely shorten life.
But Angela Mui, 51, from Glasgow, believes this will leave her son Stephen, 10, at risk.
She said: 'Right now, I am scared.
'Because Liam McArthur's Assisted Dying Bill is a message wrapped in soft words like 'choice' and 'compassion', but beneath it, there's a harder truth.
'It puts people like my child, those who are already vulnerable, at even greater risk.'
She adds: 'The language of this Bill is dangerously loose. It says 'terminal illness', but gives no clear definition, no requirement for prognosis and no safeguard about what that actually means.
'That terrifies me. Because who decides what's terminal? Who decides what's 'suffering too much'?
'I fear that over time, this Bill will be open to broader interpretation, to include people who aren't dying, but are seen by medical staff, who may mean well, as having a lesser quality of life - people like my child.
'And once it's law, there's no way to take it back. No way to undo the message it sends. That some lives just aren't worth it.'
In 2018 Angela and Stephen took part in a carpool karaoke video to highlight World Down Syndrome Day which left telly presenter James Corden in tears.
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After Corden, who invited the karaoke section for his US talk show The Late Late Show, retweeted the vid it went viral with more than five million views.
But now a Holyrood committee which is scrutinising the legislation has said members should vote at the first stage of the process as a 'matter of conscience'.
Angela adds: 'This isn't just a parent's nightmare - even the Committee itself acknowledged that this Bill could face a legal challenge under the European Convention on Human Rights.
'And if that happens, the scope could widen. The eligibility could grow. And let me be clear, our Parliament cannot guarantee what future governments or courts will do with it.
'That's the truth. And it should stop us in our tracks. Because I'm not willing to gamble with my child's life.
"I'm not willing to risk their future for the sake of a law we think we can control, but can't.
"And what kind of dignity is it to ask someone like my child if they've thought about dying, just for being who they are?
'So I'm asking MSPs not to risk sending a message that my child is better off gone.
'Because my child wants to live. And I want a world that lets him.'
A Scot Lib Dem spokesperson said: 'Public polling overwhelmingly shows that Scots including those with disabilities back giving those who are about to die the option of an assisted death should they want one.
'In any case having Down's Syndrome does not meet those criteria so hopefully that will reassure the family in question."