Dear Supporter,
For the last few weeks, a special select committee in the House of Lords has been hearing evidence on the Leadbeater assisted suicide bill. You can read our write-ups on week 1 and 2 here and here.
We must also turn our attention to Scotland, where Liam McArthur MSP’s Assisted Dying Scotland Bill is making its way through Holyrood. On 13th May, MSPs voted 70 to 56 in favour of this Bill. It was disappointing that it progressed even this far, but the fight is not over.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 4 November, the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee will begin considering amendments to Liam McArthur’s bill. The Holyrood committee expects to get through nearly 300 amendments in just three weeks (with just one session a week). Proceedings will be broadcast here.
One of those amendments comes from Patrick Harvie MSP (whose own assisted suicide bill fell in 2015). His Amendment 127 would introduce “safe access zones”, within which “influencing” or doing anything capable of “impeding another person from being provided with, providing or facilitating” assisted suicide would be criminalised. This would cover almost every GP surgery, hospital, or care home in Scotland, and the amendment would empower ministers to enlarge such zones in future.
If this sounds familiar, it is because these zones are clearly modelled on the buffer zones introduced around abortion clinics. As I’ve written for The Times and The Conservative Woman, we can’t really be surprised that suppressing free speech is not being restricted to pro-lifers outside abortion clinics – it is now being extended to suppress any form of dissent. Patrick Harvie is even willing to effectively criminalise suicide prevention to further the death agenda.
What can I do?
For supporters living in Scotland, please contact your MSPs, asking them to oppose the McArthur Bill, and vote against it at Stage 3. We need just eight MSPs to switch their votes in order to defeat the Bill. It is therefore vital that we do all we can to lobby MSPs ahead of the next vote.
All our resources on lobbying MSPs, including a guide to doing so in person, and our online tool to contact them electronically, can be found on our campaign page. You can also order flyers to deliver door to door or distribute at churches.
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If you don’t live in Scotland, please share these resources with friends and family that do! You can also share my articles by email or on social media. And of course, keep writing to members of the House of Lords about the Leadbeater Bill.
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Michael Robinson
Executive Director
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