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Assisted suicides debate 'needs Royal Commission,' says MSP
A BID is to be made by a Borders MSP to have a Royal Commission set up to consider allowing medically assisted suicides in Scotland.
Jeremy Purvis confirmed yesterday that he will make the move after the suggestion was made by a family doctor who backs the MSP's battle for the law to be changed.
Mr Purvis led an emotional and controversial debate at Holyrood last week during which he spoke of the plight of a lifelong friend – a former postmaster and councillor – terminally ill for the past two years and who had pleaded for help to die.
And Mr Purvis confirmed to TheSouthern yesterday that the 60-year-old family man had died on Saturday – just days after urging him to continue his fight.
And the Borders Lib-Dem MSP also told how he was stunned but encouraged to hear the SNP's Margo MacDonald talk in the Holyrood chamber of her fight with Parkinson's Disease and of her support for his aims.
Mr Purvis in 2005 failed to persuade Holyrood to back right-to-die legislation along the lines of that adopted by the US state of Oregon.Suicide is not illegal in Scotland but anyone helping someone to die could face a charge of murder or culpable homicide. It is legal to assist a death, under strict control, in Holland, Belgium and Switzerland.
Last Wednesday's debate did not go to a vote – and Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon ruled out a change of law within the life of the present Parliament. She told MSPs: "Our view remains that patients' wishes should be respected as far as is practicable and possible, but that the provision of care and treatment must be within the confines of the law. At this stage, we have no plans to change the law."
But she said it was open to any parliamentary committee to examine the issue.
Mr Purvis told TheSouthern: "The friend I mentioned during the debate died on Saturday morning and thankfully in the end he did not have a long time to ask for relief.
"I saw him on the previous Saturday and he urged me to carry on.
"He had asked for assistance but was told 'this is not Holland' and this made him frustrated and angry, although he did not blame the doctors. He was a deeply religious man and he said he was ready to go to the next place. I accept the sanctity of life, but for him, he was ready to go – and if that is not God's will, I do not know what is."
Some MSPs criticised Mr Purvis for raising the issue so soon after his earlier defeat.
In the debate, Margo MacDonald admitted to fellow MSPs: "I would like to have the right to determine by how much my capacity to fulfil my social, familial and personal functions will be truncated. I would like the ability to take that decision. I do not want to burden any doctor, friend or family member; I want to find a way in which I can take the decision to end my life in the event that I am unlucky enough to have the worst form of Parkinson's near the end of my life."
Mr Purvis told us: "Her intervention was very profound. I do not think she planned this – I believe she was angry that some members said they did not want the debate to take place. I hope her views and the views of others will allow discussions on this issue to continue.
“It has been suggested to me by a general practitioner that the way forward might be by a Royal Commission. There has never been one since the Scottish Parliament was established and a commission would take it out of the political sphere.
“I know there is strong opposition to proposals in Parliament, but there needs to be full scrutiny. If Parliament does not allow that, they are doing the country a disservice.”
Mr Purvis stressed: “I do not propose euthanasia. I am not proposing a change in the law that will affect children. I am not proposing a change in the law that will affect all adults. My proposals concern not the elderly, the infirm or the depressed – they concern mentally competent adults with a terminal illness.”
As well as opposition from some fellow MSPs and parts of the medical profession – the British Medical Association came down against assisted suicides in 2006 – the Roman Catholic Church has openly condemned his proposals.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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