Public opinion continues to swing against the Assisted Suicide Bill, which is set to be voted on today in the Scottish Parliament.
A new poll shows that 61% of Scots are concerned that victims of domestic abuse “would feel pressured into ending their lives if assisted suicide were to be legalised” in Scotland, according to a recent poll.
The poll of 1,088 adults conducted by Whitestone Insight found that concern was greatest among pensioners with 83% of those over 75 saying that they were worried about domestic abuse victims being pressured into ending their own lives if assisted suicide is made legal.
According to The Other Half, the think tank that commissioned the survey, the Scottish Government should expect at least 100 domestic abuse victims a year to seek an assisted suicide if Liam McArthur’s assisted suicide Bill becomes law.
The Other Half, which develops policy in women’s interests, says that the poll confirmed “Scottish people are worried about the vulnerable being coerced into state death”. It is unclear if their expected deaths figure includes male victims of domestic violence.
The Other Half’s chief executive, Fiona Mackenzie, said “That worry is heightened for older people and disabled people, who report the greatest concern of all the public. They may see the vulnerability and dependence of older age and disability. We should listen to them”.
“We know that older adults, especially older women, are vulnerable to escalating abuse in older age, with one in six over-60s estimated to have experienced elder abuse in the last 12 months”.
Scottish Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said “Liam McArthur’s assisted dying Bill is a direct threat to vulnerable people. Most Scots now fear that victims of domestic abuse could be pressured into ending their lives – and they’re right to”.
“The Bill says nothing about domestic abuse. Its definition of ‘terminal illness’ is dangerously vague and could be widened through the courts, just as experts have warned”.
Isabelle Kerr, who recently retired as the head of a women’s refuge founded by JK Rowling, said the Bill “may place domestic abuse survivors in even more danger from perpetrators”.
“Domestic abuse survivors who have lived with coercive and controlling behaviour from a partner will believe that she is the one making the decision to end her life, that it is best for everyone, and that her life is worthless as this is part of that pattern of behaviour common to many controlling and abusive men”.