Nicola Sturgeon says she is ‘veering away’ from supporting assisted dying law

The former first minister said the move could represent ‘the thin end of the wedge’

Nicola Sturgeon has said she is “veering away” from supporting a controversial bid to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.

The former first minister raised concerns the legislation could represent “the thin end of the wedge”, but said she had yet to reach a final decision.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was published in Holyrood last week by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur.

Nicola Sturgeon

It would give people over the age of 16 with an advanced terminal illness the option of requesting an assisted death.

It is the third time MSPs have considered the issue, with two previous attempts to change the law overwhelmingly defeated.

Opponents fear the plans could see the lives of people who are ill or disabled “devalued”, with the Bishop of Paisley John Keenan branding it a “dangerous idea”.

But a poll conducted on behalf of Dignity in Dying, the campaign group, found more than three-quarters of Scots are in favour of a change in the law.

Writing in the Glasgow Times, Ms Sturgeon – who voted against past attempts – said she had “rarely been as conflicted on any issue as I am on this”.

She said she had expected to find herself “swaying in favour of the legislation” but instead was “veering away from a vote in favour, not towards it”.

She wrote: “I worry that even with the best of intentions and the most carefully worded legislation, it will be impossible to properly guarantee that no-one at the end of their life will feel a degree of pressure, a sense that it might be better for others for them not be here – even if their loved ones try to persuade them otherwise.

“And, even more, fundamentally, I worry about the thin end of the wedge. That if we normalise assisted dying – if we come to associate dignity at the end of life with choosing to die, rather than being supported to live in as much peace and comfort as possible – then we will, as a society, lose focus on the palliative and end-of-life care and support that is necessary to help people, even in the worst of circumstances, to live with dignity. And I worry that, over time, this shift in collective mindset will see the tightly drawn provisions of this bill extended much further.”

Mr McArthur said he hoped to meet with Ms Sturgeon and others “in a bid to allay their concerns”.

He said: “The recent UK parliament inquiry into assisted dying noted that there was no evidence of palliative and end-of-life care deteriorating in quality or provision following the introduction of assisted dying in jurisdictions around the world. Indeed, in many instances improvements have gone hand in hand.

“Our current laws on assisted dying are failing too many terminally ill Scots and despite the best efforts of palliative care, dying people too often face traumatic deaths that harm both them and those they leave behind.

“I would encourage my MSP colleagues to consider carefully the detail of this bill and the safeguards that it puts in place. In turn, I hope this leads them to back my proposals to give terminally ill adults the choice they need and one that an overwhelming majority of Scots support."