Live
- Biden proposes changes to presidential debates
- North Korean leader inspects new tactical missile system
- Assam launches online platform for damage reporting during disasters
- Germany says it is holding 3.9 bn euro in frozen Russian assets
- FINANCIAL RESULTS OF NLCIL – FY 2023-24
- Yemen's Houthis claim attacks on US warship, cargo vessel
- Maintain list of gifts received at wedding, rules Allahabad HC
- 2nd Bow Arch String girder installed to join Bandra sea-link, Mumbai Coastal Road
- Barmer Independent nominee Ravindra Bhati receives another death threat
- Congress believes in 'destructive idea' of budget allocation based on religion: PM Modi
Assisted suicide: Scotland mulls bill
Assisted Suicide: Scotland Mulls Bill. A landmark bill that proposes to legalize assisted suicides in Scotland has raised concerns.
LONDON: A landmark bill that proposes to legalize assisted suicides in Scotland has raised concerns.
The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics (SCHB) expressed concern about the move. Professor Calum MacKellar, director of research at SCHB, said, "It is inevitable that assisted suicide would put the most vulnerable people in Scotland under pressure to end their lives because they are afraid of being a burden."
A bill drawn up by Lord Charles Falconer, a former Labour lord chancellor, to legalize "assisted dying" — allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to terminally ill patients — is now before the House of Lords. Peers are expected to vote on the plans in the next four months.
If the bill is supported there, it will then pass to the Commons where some MPs say they have detected growing support for the move — influenced by opinion polls suggesting that up to three quarters of the public would support a change in the law.
Scotland has initiated a parliamentary scrutiny process on the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill. This follows a call for views on the legalization of such a procedure, being published by the Scottish parliament's health and sports committee.
Convener of the committee, Duncan McNeil said, "This is an issue that has polarized public opinion and there are clearly strong views on both sides of the debate. There is no doubt that legalizing assisted suicide would be a monumental change in how we treat people with a terminal illness at the end of their lives and there are a number of moral and ethical issues that need to be explored as part of this debate. Given the significance of the legislation, it is even more important that as a parliamentary committee we can take a neutral look at the facts."
The proposed legislation would provide protection against criminal and civil liability for those providing such assistance. Under the 1961 Suicide Act, it remains a criminal offence carrying up to 14 years in jail to help someone to take their own life.
