11-05-2025
Six in 10 Scots worried domestic abuse victims would seek assisted death
Two previous attempts at Holyrood to change the law on the issue were decisively defeated, but Mr McArthur has expressed confidence that it will pass this time.
Several MSPs have said that they would support the legislation in the first vote so the debate over assisted dying could continue and to see what amendments are made at the next stage.
However, they have said that they may not support the Bill in the final vote, which would decide whether the amended Bill should become law.
Separate legislation introducing assisted dying in England and Wales has been tabled in the House of Commons by Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley.
The poll was published after John Swinney, the First Minister, disclosed that he will oppose the legislation in Tuesday's vote. He also expressed concerns that vulnerable people could come under pressure to end their own lives.
The Other Half, which develops policy in women's interests, said that the survey confirmed 'Scottish people are worried about the vulnerable being coerced into state death'.
Fiona Mackenzie, The Other Half's chief executive, said: 'That worry is heightened for older people and disabled people, who report the greatest concern of all the public. They may see the vulnerability and dependence of older age and disability. We should listen to them.
'We know that older adults, especially older women, are vulnerable to escalating abuse in older age, with one in six over-60s estimated to have experienced elder abuse in the last 12 months.'
The poll of 1,088 adults was conducted by Whitestone Insights between May 2 and 7. It also found that concern about the effects on domestic abuse victims was higher among women (62 per cent) than men (60 per cent).
'Direct threat'
Stephen Kerr, a Scottish Tory MSP, said: 'Liam McArthur's assisted dying Bill is a direct threat to vulnerable people. Most Scots now fear that victims of domestic abuse could be pressured into ending their lives – and they're right to.
'The Bill says nothing about domestic abuse. Its definition of 'terminal illness' is dangerously vague and could be widened through the courts, just as experts have warned.'
Isabelle Kerr, who recently retired as the head of a women's refuge founded by JK Rowling, also warned that the Bill 'may place domestic abuse survivors in even more danger from perpetrators'.
Ms Kerr, formerly of the Beira's Place support service in Edinburgh, said: 'Domestic abuse survivors who have lived with coercive and controlling behaviour from a partner will believe that she is the one making the decision to end her life, that it is best for everyone, and that her life is worthless as this is part of that pattern of behaviour common to many controlling and abusive men.'
But Mr McArthur told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that there had been a 'huge shift' in the 'political mood' in Holyrood since legislation to allow assisted dying was last defeated in 2015.
He said that any application would have to be approved by 'two doctors acting independently', who would discuss with the patient the 'rationale' for their decision because 'there is a need to ensure that no undue pressure or coercion has been brought to bear'.
Mr McArthur denied that the legislation would be the 'thin end of the wedge', with eligibility criteria expanding over time, saying a Commons inquiry had found no evidence of this.
Mr McArthur added: '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.
'Under the current ban on assisted dying, terminally ill people – women included – are taking matters into their own hands, ending their own lives at home or travelling to Switzerland. Right now, we cannot know whether these people have made an entirely voluntary decision.'
