Liam McArthur is a Liberal Democrat and therefore fundamentally rude guy. The owl and serious, firm but polite, he acted as a librarian. Every time he speaks, I worry that I might be overdue.
But, since he is a liberal, he is also incredible. Uncertainly sure–he is not green after all–but the serenity of serenity in securing the world, because he believes that the world is an enlightened place, everyone has good intentions to trust institutions, and the law is the reliable guarantee of the process.
It was in this spirit that he had a first phase of debate on his auxiliary dying bill. He hopes for a reasonable and respectful exchange and urges skeptics to have a chance to improve legislation in the next phase.
McArthur demonstrated his fluency in contemporary liberal language with a commitment to consent, choice and autonomy. Today, even death must be in line with human rights.
Among those who favored the McArthur Act, two of the hardest contributions came from nationalists MSPS Elena Whitham and George Adam.
Whitham holds a mess of tissue that describes her mother, Irene, who starved to death in 2014 after being diagnosed with advanced cancer at 58. It took her two weeks to die.
Whitham told MSP in a voice of contempt: “My mom should plan a sympathetic death, not that she must do it in secret.”
Her words triggered an audible chain of sniffing.
Liam McArthur
Labor MSP PAM Duncan-Glancy worries about disability Scots under assisted dying legislation
Her colleague Adam talked about his wife Stacey, who has multiple sclerosis. Adam is Carrasse, the cheerful guy, watching him stop and restrain his emotions – without much success – was a strange experience.
He admitted that he could not agree to die for Stacey due to “selfishness” reasons, which is why it was Stacey’s right choice.
It’s not what they need now, but they may need it in the future.
His contributions aroused applause from the entire conference hall and on both the issues. This is one of the most original and personal speeches I’ve ever seen in Holyrood. MacArthur quipped that Adam was the “snot wreck.”
Among those who objected, interventions were equally outrageous.
Labour MSP PAM Duncan-Glancy has added people with disabilities like her, which has made people feel like a social burden and will bear the pressure to end their lives. She stopped and suffocated tears, and she told her and her husband how scared she was that the doctors would not bother trying to recover them so much that they wrote notes to each other and said, “Please restore me.”
At the end, she defended her life and colleagues of people like her: “Instead of legislation to help people die, we have legislation to help people live.”
The Conservative Edward Mountain is set in a soldier’s background, and his experience with cancer, to inform him of his views on death.
Like Duncan-Glancy, he believes that parliament should be in business that improves life, rather than termination more easily.
When others warn of coercion, he invites us to consider “passive coercion”, such as the poor provision of palliative care services. In this case, anyone finds themselves and feels suicide, which is in itself a coercion.
Hour after hour, MSPs poured their hearts, waving their eyes, and it was ugly, especially if you lost someone who was really close to you in a slow and painful way.
However, the contribution that emits the greatest light is not the testimony of tears, but a stable, sober analysis.
Murdo Fraser warned that McArthur’s bill was “an open door with the auxiliary dying door of legislation we are currently in the process of legislation.”
He assured that Holyrood was “real.” Assisted suicide is lobbying by people with high social capital, but it also applies to the poor, vulnerable and “people who are more susceptible to coercion.” Create rights for one person and then create risks for another.
Decision time, MSP supported 56 votes of 70 votes in abstention. The bill moves forward, and assisted suicide will now become a fierce battle for the meaning of life and death in Scotland.
