Scotland Wrestles with Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide
Elizabeth Delaney
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By Elizabeth Delaney, Crosswalk.com
The practice of physician assisted suicide is extending its controversial tentacles to the country of Scotland. The hotly debated topic has been winding its way through the Scottish government for about two years.
Though the Scottish government claims to have a neutral position toward the bill, they also claim, “We consider that we have a duty to assess the technical, legal and deliverability implications of proposed amendments to ensure the bill is workable in practice, if passed at the Stage 3 vote,” according to a publication on the Scottish Government website.
Top Three Concerns about MSP Bill
The British Geriatrics Society (BGS) has written to Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) and detailed their top three concerns regarding why the MSP should vote down the bill. In summary, they are as follows:
- There aren’t sufficient safeguards to protect older people from harm.
Older people are anticipated to be the group most commonly affected by the bill, and the present bill doesn’t offer safeguards that would protect them from abuse, coercion, or ageism in society that leaves them feeling like a burden. In its research about how physician assisted suicide progresses in other nations where it’s legal, about half of the people who choose physician assisted suicide do so because of feeling like a burden to loved ones, friends and society in general. BGS argues that social workers, psychologists, and others involved in the healthcare and mental health fields need to be involved in such a decision. - Healthcare professionals who choose not to be involved in physician assisted suicide aren’t protected.
BGS conducted a survey among its members and found that about half of them don’t want to take part in physician assisted suicide. BGS argues that their right to choose as a matter of conscience needs to be protected. - The complexities of end of life care for older people aren’t being recognized.
The bill doesn’t include a holistic assessment that addresses the unique needs of older adults, and whether or not there are needs that aren’t being met. Inability to access adequate housing or other needed resources can heavily influence a person’s decision regarding physician assisted suicide.
What Religious Leaders and Pro-Lifers are Saying about the Bill
The MSP is expected to vote on the bill next Tuesday. Scottish bishops and pro-life leaders are calling the bill “unsafe,” “a dreadful mess,” and an “incomplete bill.”
“The bill being proposed, if it becomes law, will lead to Scottish citizens, especially the elderly, sick, and disabled, living in deep and profound fear,” Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, told EWTN News.
He went on to note that the present bill lacks safeguards for those with mental health issues, disabilities, and allows doctors to speak with patients about physician assisted suicide even when the patient hasn’t brought it up.
Keenan is suggesting that the MSP needs to focus more on “a meaningful debate on end-of-life care,” as well as prioritizing how the most vulnerable can be protected.
Life Legal Defense Foundation Fights Physician Assisted Suicide in Delaware
Closer to home, Life Legal Defense Foundation is attempting to reverse Delaware’s physician assisted suicide law. Delaware became the 11th state to make it legal, according to The Hill. Governor Matt Meyer signed the legislation into law in May of 2025, according to Delaware Public Media.
One year later, Americans United for Life is working to reverse Delaware’s physician assisted suicide law, by filing a friend of the court (amicus) brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The brief included a group of 14 national medical, legal, and faith-based organizations who expressed their deep concerns about the increase in the acceptability of physician assisted suicide, according to the Christian Newswire.
The group claims that the path of physician assisted suicide may begin as a narrow one aimed at those suffering from terminal illness, but it tends to expand its impact to those with chronic conditions, mental distress, or personal hardship. The group also argues that what begins as an option to end one’s life can rapidly turn into an expectation – especially if patients are already struggling with feeling that they’re a burden because of illness, disability, age, or financial difficulties.
As specific examples, the group referenced California, where physician assisted suicide has increased 700 percent since becoming legal. What started out as 111 deaths in the first year has expanded to almost 900 per year.
Canada’s Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) program has grown to over 16,000 deaths per year, currently making it about one in every twenty deaths nationally.
Another example that was provided was the Netherlands, which is the first country to allow physician assisted suicide. It became legal there in 1994, according to The Christian Century. It now allows some minors to receive physician assisted suicide, according to Life Legal Defense Foundation.
“Compassion never means abandoning someone to death,” Life Legal Defense Foundation CEO Alexandra Snyder told the Christian Newswire. “True compassion means protecting life and standing with people in their suffering—especially when they are most vulnerable.”
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Elizabeth Delaney has been a freelance content writer for over 20 years and has enjoyed having her prose published in both the non-fiction and fiction markets. She has written various types of content, including Christian articles, healthy lifestyle, blog posts, business topics, news articles, product descriptions, and some fiction. She is also a singer-songwriter-musician. When she is not busy with writing or music, she enjoys spending time with friends or family and doing fun social activities such as hiking, swing dancing, concerts, and other activities.
