Assisted dying sparks fears for vulnerable

THE assisted dying legislation “devalues human life”, a leading Catholic Bishop has said.

- By Craig Paton

John Keenan, the Bishop of Paisley and President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, expressed his “sadness” that MSPs backed the bill.

General principles of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill passed the first parliamentary hurdle at Holyrood on Tuesday. The bill goes forward for further Scottish Parliament scrutiny.

But Bishop Keenan equated assisted dying to suicide, claiming the law would normalise the idea of someone taking their own life, as he urged politicians to focus on caring for people to live.

Suicide

He said: “It is hard to believe that any parliamentarian could support what will effectively be the creation of a state suicide service. Politicians should be working hard to provide the support necessary for people to live, not give them a lethal concoction of drugs to die.”