Warning: Throughout this episode of the podcast there are discussions about death and suicide.
Later this year a bill will be introduced to the Scottish parliament that could see assisted dying legalised in Scotland. Meanwhile, south of the border the House of Commons health and social care committee has been taking evidence on assisted dying as part of an inquiry into the issue it is running this year.
The Scottish bill is being put forward by Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish parliament Liam McArthur. The bill will be the third attempt to legalise assisted dying in Scotland since 1999, so could the law actually change this time around?
Emma speaks to Scottish GPs Dr Drummond Begg and Dr Peter Kielhmann who are on opposite sides of the argument about assisted dying to look at the case for and against changing the law.
Scottish assisted dying bill
She talks to Liam McArthur about why he is introducing the bill and what happens next, and to GP Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a Conservative member of the Scottish parliament who chaired the medical advisory group that produced a report on how assisted dying should work.
Emma also meets Dr Catherine Forest, a family doctor from California in the US where assisted dying has been legal since 2016. Dr Forest was involved with work that helped pave the way for legalising assisted dying in her state and now supports patients and their families through the process of assisted dying. She also speaks very movingly about her husband Will, who chose an assisted death in 2021.
And we look at what a change of law could mean from patients’ point of view by talking to Jackie Roberts, who lives in Edinburgh and has incurable breast cancer, and Professor Kevin Yuill, a representative from Not Dead Yet, a group of disability activists that campaigns against assisted dying.
Sources
- Proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill
- Medical Advisory Group Report on the assisted dying bill
- Proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill - summary of consultation responses
- YouGov survey on assisted dying
- BMA survey of members on assisted dying from February 2020
- RCGP rejects change in stance on assisted dying - from GPonline
- Regional Euthanasia Review Committee from the Netherlands annual reports - showing the proportion of people who died by euthanasia.
- Dignitas report showing accompanied suicides per year and country of residence
- Third annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2021
- Oregon Death with Dignity Act 2021 data summary
- Dignity in Dying’s Last Resort report - which explores the number of people with a terminal diagnosis who take their own lives
- ONS: Suicides among people diagnosed with severe health conditions, England: 2017 to 2020
- Are Canadians being driven to assisted suicide by poverty or healthcare crisis? The Guardian
- Cost estimates for Medical Assistance in Dying - report by the Canadian Parliamentary Budget Officer
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