Dennis Canavan has spoken about the death of his children as he highlighted his opposition to assisted suicide.
The former parliamentarian has suffered the loss of four of his children, including three sons who died as the result of terminal illness.
He said: "My sons undoubtedly experienced some pain but it was minimised by dedicated health professionals in the NHS and our local hospice.
"My sons died in dignity and I disagree with supporters of the Bill who claim that the suicide option is necessary to ensure dignity in death.
"We ought instead to be concentrating on ways to try to alleviate pain and suffering for people who are terminally ill.”
Excellent to hear from @DennisCanavan on the dangers of Assisted Suicide. (whitewashed by a term called "assisted dying" by it's proposers)
Scotland does have a duty to reject this extreme legislation.@rcpoliticsuk @archedinburgh pic.twitter.com/TgiZcOE4XV
— Tobias Bailey (@Crusader_Tobias) October 2, 2024
Dennis was speaking at an event titled Assisted Suicide in Scotland – the Beginning of a Dangerous Spiral at Our Lady & St Ninian’s parish, Bannockburn, on Wednesday night.
He has a long association with Strathcarron Hospice in Denny and campaigns for more investment in palliative care to minimise the suffering of terminally ill patients.
Dennis said that, if the Bill were to become law, many vulnerable people would come under pressure to choose the suicide option because they would not want to be a burden on their loved ones. The so called "safeguards" in the Bill would not give adequate protection from such pressure or coercion.
The meeting also heard from Dr Richard Lenton (below), a retired geriatrician, who worked for three decades as a consultant for NHS Forth Valley.
He said: "In geriatrics you get to know your patients, they trust you. If assisted suicide was available that trust would be not just diminished but non-existent."
Like Dennis, Richard also had close links to the palliative care service at Strathcarron Hospice.
He told the meeting that he believes that palliative care should be researched and strengthened and that in countries where assisted suicide was legalised, hospice's funding has been withdrawn, forcing them to close.
Using examples from Canada, Richard explained how so-called “strict safeguards” are of no value, and that assisted suicide laws are invariably interpreted in an expansive way.
MSPs are still making their minds up and want to hear what constituents think. You have one directly elected MSP and several, regional, MSPs and you should write to them all. Find your MSPs on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps
Images: @Crusader_Tobias