Disabled to protest over assisted dying bill

Disabled campaigners will demonstrate today against MSP Margo MacDonald’s End of Life Assistance Bill at the Scottish Parliament.

However the bill is being backed by the charity Dignity in Dying.

MSPs will taking evidence on the bill in committee today. The End of Life Assistance Bill aims to make it legal for doctors to help people who wish to do so to die.

Inclusion Scotland argues the bill is discriminatory against disabled people. The umbrella group says it also contradicts government policies on independent living, and doesn’t acknowledge that it is society itself which often makes life “intolerable” for disabled people.

Catherine Garrod, of Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living, claimed that under the bill only disabled people would be eligible for assistance to die, suggesting their lives were of less value than those of non-disabled people.

She cited the case of 23-year-old Daniel James, who chose to die after being paralysed while playing rugby and added: “His wish to die was considered to be acceptable because he was a disabled man. The same desire to die in a non-disabled person of either sex or any age would be considered to be unreasonable and a sign of mental illness.”

Ms Garrod also called for a greater emphasis on tackling the social hurdles which can make life difficult for disabled people. Inclusion Scotland has criticised the timing of the bill, arguing that cuts to benefits and services might put some people in even more desperate situations, and make assisted dying appear “attractive”.

“There is no mention throughout the End of Life bill of the barriers facing disabled people that may contribute to them finding life intolerable,” Ms Garrod said. “Barriers such as cuts to welfare benefits, cuts to social work services and other types of support, cuts to health services and the lack of accessible housing and being in poverty can all make life intolerable for disabled people.”

She added: “Disabled people are among the most disempowered in our society. This limits their choices. Some disabled people don’t even get to choose their own socks.

“The so-called safeguards in the bill would not prevent insidious and sometimes even unconscious pressure being brought to bear on disabled people by carers, health and care professionals. All research studies conducted on assisted dying show ‘not wanting to be a burden’ as the principal reason for seeking death.”

MSPs will also hear evidence from Dignity in Dying, which endorsed the bill after it was restricted to apply to terminally ill, mentally competent adults.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said “We welcome the proposed changes that Margo has made to her bill. There is a clear need for a change in the law to allow the choice of assisted dying for people who are terminally ill, mentally competent and suffering at the end of their lives.

“We know that currently people are taking desperate and often dangerous decisions at the end of their lives, travelling abroad to die in unfamiliar surroundings, or attempting suicide behind closed doors. These sad cases are then investigated retrospectively, after the person has died.

“Margo’s bill offers up-front safeguards allowing for a full consideration of someone’s request to die when they are still alive.

“The provisions in the Bill would also allow the person considering an assisted death to discuss their options with their healthcare team, and therefore consider alternatives before choosing an assisted death.

“Opponents to the End of Life Assistance Bill cite vulnerable people as a reason to oppose such change.

“The only way to protect people from a duty to die, whilst also protecting suffering adults from a duty to suffer, is regulating safeguarded assisted dying.”