THE spiritual leaders of Scotland's Muslim community have called for politicians to vote against a controversial law that would legalise assisted suicide.
The Council of Imams Scotland has written to MSPs urging them to vote against the Bill tomorrow (wed) saying it is strictly against Islamic law to help terminate the "divine gift" of life.
While opinion polls have shown the public is firmly behind proposals to allow terminally ill people to end their suffering if they wish, the vast majority of religious scholars strongly oppose the idea.
The letter states: "Muslims strongly believe all human life is sacred because it has been granted by Allah. Assisted suicide will put vulnerable people at great risk and will undermine the care and social solidarity that are due to those who are ill.
"The Bill suggested procedures and safeguards are open to abuse and coercion physical and mental. The Bill will create a culture of suicide as a treatment/solution, this will affect young people in any difficulty.
"It will undermine the well-established legal, medical and social principles that people should not be helped to kill themselves and that doctors should support life and do not intentionally end life.
"Any change in the law to allow assisted suicide or euthanasia would be unethical, unnecessary, dangerous and contrary to the common good. Efforts should be made to focus on improving care, in particular making our excellent palliative care available more widely."
The legislation was introduced by the late independent MSP Margo Macdonald and taken forward by Green co-convenor Patrick Harvie following her death last year.
MSPs will be given a free vote over the Bill, which if eventually passed, would allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with a lethal prescription if a series of conditions are met. Tomorrow's vote will either see the Bill pass to the next stage where it will face further scrutiny, or be killed off entirely.
In January Ephraim Borowski, director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, sparked controversy when he suggested the legislation is comparable to racist Nazi laws that paved the way for the Holocaust while the Church of Scotland and Catholic Church is also opposed to the law change.
As well as opposition on religious grounds, others have argued against the Bill as they believe it will put pressure on vulnerable people to kill themselves over fears of becoming a burden or lead to greedy family members encouraging elderly relatives to end their lives so that they can claim their inheritance.
Under the proposals, patients wishing to end their life would have to make three separate declarations to doctors, with set time delays between stages including a 14-day "cooling off" period.
Doctors would then supply a licensed facilitator, who would oversee the process and have no relationship with the patient, and write a prescription to enable assisted suicide to take place.
It is envisaged that a loved one or the facilitator would assist the person who wished to end their life, although the patient would have to self-administer the drug.
A bid to legalise assisted suicide in 2010 was defeated at Holyrood by 85 votes to 16. However, supporters of assisted suicide believe that public opinion has changed significantly since then.
Mr Harvie said: "There are supporters as well as opponents of this Bill among the religious communities, but it's important to remember that the law affects us all, whether we subscribe to a religion or not.
"As it stands, the law in Scotland is unclear and fails to respect the right of people to make their own decision accordion to their own values. The evidence from other countries is clear that assisted suicide is able to sit alongside high quality palliative care and other support for those who need it. By approving the Bill on Wednesday MSPs will be allowing further debate on the details, where no doubt improvements can be made."
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