MSPs told ‘no evidence’ assisted dying laws lead to ‘slippery slope’

Holyrood’s Health Committee heard from experts from Australia – where assisted dying is largely legal – during its first evidence session on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.

The legislation, proposed by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur (below), would give those with a terminal illness, who are 16 or older, the right to request an end to their life.

(Image: PA) Some groups have expressed concerns it could lead to terminally ill people, as well as disabled people and the elderly, feeling pressured to end their life.

On Tuesday, MSPs heard the introduction of assisted dying laws in Australia – and parts of America – for those with a terminal illness were not later expanded to include more groups.

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Julian Gardner, chairman of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board in Australia, said that since being enacted in the state of Victoria more than five years ago, the law on assisted dying has not been changed.

He told the committee: “I suppose you could argue that because we were the first state – and there has been, I think, 51 bills in state parliaments before one was successful – the other states have mainly learned from our lessons.

“They have not, in my view, made the eligibility criteria any wider but they have removed some of the unnecessary restrictions we have in Victoria.”

Those included other Australian states choosing to let doctors inform patients about assisted dying, as long as they also share details of other end-of-life care.

“To that extent, there have been improvements in other states but no changes to the Act,” he said.

“The slippery slope, we heard all about that when we were doing the consultation for the legislation in Victoria.

MSPs show their support for the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill"You're never going to positively say that a future government, what it will or won’t do, but there’s certainly no evidence of it.”

Gardner also pointed to the US state of Oregon, which he said had not “broadened” its assisted dying laws since being introduced in 1997. The Holyrood bill is the third attempt to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.

READ MORE: Assisted dying bill outwith Holyrood's powers and 'may need Westminster permission'

Under the proposals, those seeking the treatment would have to have been a resident in Scotland for at least a year, be registered with a GP in the country, and be mentally competent.

Opponents of the bill have raised concerns that it could lead to people being pressured into taking their own life.

Asked about those concerns, Gardner said that since Victoria made assisted dying legal in 2019, it has heard no reports of people being coerced into receiving the end-of-life care.

“The only reports we have had has been the reverse,” he said.

“That’s when people have received coercion, maybe that’s too strong a word, but undue influence not to go ahead with it, generally from relatives who have objections or from institutions which may be faith-based.”

The Better Way campaign group, which is opposed to assisted dying, has claimed McArthur’s Bill will lead to “unjust deaths”.

The charity said in the summer that the legislation is “inherently, and unavoidably, unsafe” – with no way to “rule out abuses and mistakes, coercion and people dying through pressures arising in society”.

Better Way warned changing the law could “undermine palliative care for all Scots”, adding psychiatrists have raised fears of a “harmful shift in our societal response to suicide”.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon intervenes in debate over assisted dying bill at Holyrood

While McArthur has said his bill will “give terminally ill, mentally competent adults the option to control the manner and timing of their death”, Better Way said the definition of a terminal illness in the legislation is “very broad”.

It warned defining such an illness as being an “advanced, progressive condition that a patient is unable to recover from, which is expected to cause their premature death” means that as it stands, “patients suffering from anorexia, and some disabilities” could be eligible.

McArthur said he is confident his proposals form a “robust and well-safeguarded bill” which provide a choice for those with terminal illnesses who are being failed by current laws.