Scottish MP has change of heart, now against assisted suicide legislation

A Scottish National Party lawmaker who previously backed assisted suicide legislation has withdrawn her support, warning the proposal could put vulnerable people at risk of pressure and coercion.

Audrey Nicoll MSP recently announced she will no longer support Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. Nicoll said her experience in law enforcement working with vulnerable people led her to reconsider the consequences of the measure.

The proposal would let adults deemed terminally ill, and who have lived in Scotland for at least one year, receive physician assistance to end their lives. It has already passed its first major vote 70-56. Several lawmakers said at the time they supported the bill only to allow further debate rather than signal final approval.

Nicoll’s reversal puts the legislation in a weaker position. If six more lawmakers withdraw their support, the measure would fail at the next vote.

In an open letter to colleagues, Nicoll said lawmakers cannot dismiss the risk of coercion.

“The reality is that some individuals will be subject to coercion and pressure, whether directly or indirectly and in ways which may be subtle and difficult to enunciate,” she wrote.

She also pointed to ethical concerns and the track record of assisted suicide laws elsewhere.

“The bill has significant ethical, social and legal implications, and given the experience in other jurisdictions where practice has shifted away from that originally intended, I am not currently reassured that a timely post legislative scrutiny process would take place,” Nicoll said.

Nicoll said her “greatest concerns are the provisions around coercion” and noted “a significant number of reasonable amendments were rejected” during the committee stage.

Opponents say lawmakers rejected amendments that would have strengthened protections against coercive control, tightened independent checks to ensure consent was truly voluntary and imposed clearer limits on the drugs used and how assisted death requests would be reviewed. 

Dr. Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, said doubts about the bill are growing inside Scotland’s parliament. 

He warned of “a growing apprehension among MSPs that the bill is not legislatively competent – a view held by health secretary Neil Gray.” 

“With discontent among MSPs and no guarantee of support from London, the assisted suicide bill finds itself in troubled waters, confronting potentially increasingly insurmountable difficulties,” Macdonald said. 

Last month, a cross-party group warned McArthur’s proposal “risks creating a society where people chose to end their lives through the NHS because they can’t get support to live.” 

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes joined lawmakers from multiple parties in saying “too many reasonable amendments” had been rejected, raising “serious implications for people across Scotland.”