Experts in domestic abuse and sexual violence have warned that legalising assisted suicide in Scotland would place women victims at greater risk of harm.
Academic Dr Anni Donaldson and Isabelle Kerr, CEO of women’s protection service Beira’s Place, have written to MSPs to raise concerns, which they fear haven’t been appraised.
In a letter to the committee of MSPs examining Liam McArthur’s assisted suicide bill, the experts warn that the bill “risks offering a new, potentially lethal weapon to abusive men”.
Their letter states:
“The Bill relies on the consent, choice, free will and autonomy of the person wishing to end their life. For too many women living with domestic abuse in Scotland today, these principles are simply non-existent in their daily lives. It is unrealistic to assume that domestic abuse will cease when a woman receives a diagnosis of terminal illness.
“To date, we are not aware that any consideration has been given to the implications of the Assisted Dying Bill for the many Scottish women in this situation. Mr McArthur’s Bill risks offering a new, potentially lethal weapon to abusive men whose partners have been diagnosed with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.”
Explaining the dangers women victims of domestic abuse would face under an assisted suicide framework, Donaldson and Kerr add:
“Living in an abusive relationship…isolates women from friends and family; can remove their capacity to make free choices and decisions, and limit or deny them access to employment, leisure activities, health care, support, safety and justice. Women are regularly demeaned and told they are worthless, that they would be better off dead, or, that they are a useless mother, the children would be better off without you.
“The ongoing fear and trauma of coercive control and the constant humiliation can significantly erode women’s confidence, autonomy, and self-esteem. Cut off from external support, women often come to believe these lies, to fear reprisals from their partner if they report the abuse and thus tell no one. It is our position therefore that in this context, a woman living with an abusive partner is unlikely to be in a position to give her consent freely to the process of an assisted death.”
They go on to express concern that doctors will not identify foul play:
“The Bill relies heavily on medical practitioners ensuring the patient’s consent is freely given in the assisted dying process. A key factor in the dynamics of domestic abuse is its hidden and unreported nature. Women become expert at hiding and covering up the abuse. Health care settings are public environments and the presence of domestic abuse and its adverse impact on women’s mental health may be masked and invisible to health professionals. Abusive men are also extremely skilled at presenting as loving and caring partners in public settings. Women with abusive partners who are receiving end of life care at home without health professionals being there 24/7 may be particularly vulnerable to coercion.
“Without expertise in understanding the complex nature and interpersonal dynamics of domestic abuse and coercion, and the ability to assess the risks women face, doctors and other health professionals involved in the assisted dying process, may unwittingly collude with an abuser in the murder of his partner. Providing adequate training to all medical staff involved in the assisted dying process has substantial time and resource implications for the already extremely stretched NHS and its staff.”
Dr Miro Griffiths MBE, spokesman for Better Way, commented:
“This significant intervention should give MSPs serious pause for thought. An ‘assisted dying’ law would provide a tool for bad actors to exploit, with women victims of domestic abuse particularly at risk of harm. The bill before Holyrood is fatally flawed. There is no way to screen out coercion, no way to prevent deaths arising from incorrect prognosis, and no way to prevent people ending their lives due to an unjust lack of support.
“Ensuring the protection of Scotland’s most vulnerable citizens requires keeping assisted suicide off the statute book. We’d urge MSPs to oppose the bill and instead focus on truly ethical and progressive policy solutions. A better way forward involves upholding blanket suicide prevention, strengthening palliative care, and supporting measures that create a more inclusive society for disabled people.”