Support in Scotland for assisted suicide in non-terminal cases continues to decline, recent polling shows, as the nation considers legalisation that SPUC says is “out of step with public opinion”.
A poll carried out by Dignity in Dying, which supports assisted suicide, found that the proportion of Scots who “strongly supported” legalisation was 40% in 2024, down from 45% in 2023, and 55% in 2019.
A YouGov tracker also reports that in April 2024 only 41% of Scots thought the law should “be changed to allow someone to assist in the suicide of someone suffering from an incurable but NOT terminal illness”, down from a high of 56% in August 2019.
Last month, Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur tabled his Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill to permit assisted suicide for persons with “an advanced and progressive disease, illness or condition from which they are unable to recover and that can reasonably be expected to cause their premature death”.
SPUC slammed the Bill, particularly its loose definition of terminal illness that could be interpreted to include any condition said to shorten life expectancy, such as alcoholism and other issues not generally recognised as “terminal”.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “The more Scots find out about the reality of assisted suicide, the more they recoil from such dangerous legislation that threatens the lives of society’s most vulnerable people.
“Support for assisted suicide is clearly in decline, especially as more horror stories come out of Canada where state-sanctioned suicide killed 13,500 people in 2022. The ‘slippery slope’ is real.
“Scottish politicians must respect the democratic will of the people they represent. Liam McArthur’s Bill is demonstrably out of step with public opinion that recognises the dangers inherent in his irresponsible proposal that would sign the death warrants for thousands of Scots.”
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