Even for 16-year-olds

A Scottish MP has introduced a bill for assisted suicide. Margo
MacDonald, a campaigner for euthanasia who suffers from Parkinson’s disease,
claims that her End of Life Choices Bill would allow Scots who wanted to end
their lives to die at home, rather than travel to a suicide clinic in
Switzerland. “Dying is part of living, it’s the last act of your life, and
if we accept the responsibility of how we live our lives, then I really fail to
see where there is any demarcation of how we should die,” she told
Parliament.

Ms MacDonald says that her bill has a number of safeguards to ensure
that it will not be abused. People must have resided in Scotland for at least
18 months; they have to consult a doctor and have a psychiatrist confirm that
they were not suffering from depression; their decision has to be confirmed
after two weeks and they cannot die until two days after that.

However, Wesley J. Smith, a veteran critic of euthanasia
who scrutinised the bill, claims that it has serious flaws. A 16-year-old could
take advantage of it without parental consent; as no method is specified, a gun
could be used; and anyone, not necessarily a doctor, could dispatch the person
requesting death. ~ Scotsman, Jan 29

Michael Cook
assisted suicide
euthanasia
Scotland