175 medical professionals in Scotland have signed a letter addressed to the Scottish health secretary, Humza Yousaf, voicing their opposition to a proposed bill that would legalise assisted dying.

The letter was launched by Our Duty of Care (ODOC), is a response to the Assisted Dying Bill introduced into the Scottish Parliament  last month.

Distinguished signatories to the letter include David Galloway, the retired consultant surgeon and previous president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow, and Professor Marie Fallon, Chair of Palliative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

The letter states: “The shift from preserving life to taking life is enormous and should not be minimised. The prohibition of killing is present in almost all civilised societies due to the immeasurable worth of every human life.

“Everyone has a right to life under Article 1 of The Human Rights Act 1998 such that no one should be deprived of that life intentionally.”

The letter goes on to highlight the exploitation that vulnerable people may face if assisted dying is legalised:

“Some patients may never consider assisted suicide unless it was suggested to them. The cruel irony of this path is that legislation introduced with the good intention of enhancing patient choice will diminish the choices of the most vulnerable.

“As health care professionals, we have a legal duty of care for the safety and wellbeing of our patients.

“We the undersigned will not take patients’ lives - even if they ask us to. But for the sake of us all, we ask that the law remains unchanged.”

SPUC Comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “Assisted suicide is not medicine but a turning away from life, towards death, in response to the challenge of care.

“But the killing of a patient should never be the answer, as these 175 medical professionals rightly assert. SPUC stands with them.”

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