An anti-euthanasia group has warned against legalising assisted suicide after a former headteacher took his own life at a specialist clinic in Switzerland.
Care Not Killing said a law in Scotland would put the vulnerable at risk after Richard Selley, who had motor neurone disease (MND), travelled to the Dignitas centre for his planned death.
Dr Gordon Macdonald, the body’s chief executive, said: “We are sorry to hear about Mr Selley’s death. It is sad also that the death of Mr Selley is being used to try to justify a campaign that will rip up long-held universal protections, by treating those who are terminally ill, disabled, or have chronic conditions differently in law.
“Such a change in the law will put vulnerable people at risk of abuse and of coming under pressure to end their lives prematurely.”
Selley, who was the head of Loretto junior school in East Lothian, had to leave the country to end his life after his call to MSPs to change the law on assisted suicide was not heeded.
MSPs have consistently rejected such a legislative move, as parliamentarians have flagged up worries about safeguards in any scheme.
In a video message before his planned death yesterday, the 65-year-old said: “I hope that members of the Scottish Parliament support an assisted dying bill in the future.
“I think the momentum for a change in the law is growing. It will be too late for me but I hope that sometime soon people in my position will have the choice to have a peaceful death at a time of their choosing.”
He said of his MND: “I have lost the ability to walk, talk and swallow. I have also lost most of the power in my arms.
“Despite these losses I have tried very hard to remain positive and my palliative care has been outstanding. However, as I enter the final stage of my journey, I don’t wish to suffer for much longer so I am seeking an assisted death with Dignitas.”
He added: “I have already had to compose letters, write a life story and obtain medical records that prove that I am terminally ill.
“This has been stressful, particularly as my GP was advised to refuse my request for an up-to-date medical report.”
His life ended on Friday at the Dignitas clinic in Pfaffikon, near Zurich, after he took a dose of sodium pentobarbital prescribed by a doctor.
However in a statement yesterday, Macdonald said: “Parliamentarians across the UK have repeatedly rejected attempts to introduce assisted suicide and euthanasia, more than ten times since 2003, out of concern for public safety, including in 2015 when the Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly voted against any change in the law by 82 votes to 36 and the House of Commons by 330 votes to 118."
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