Rewriting the Rules

[davidgillon]

The Scottish Parliament is considering a bill to legalise assisted suicide.

Bill's author: "It only covers people with terminal illnesses, not disability"

Hidden in the small print: 

"For the purposes of this Act, a person is terminally ill if they have an advanced and progressive disease, illness or condition from which they are unable to recover and that can reasonably be expected to cause their premature death."

A huge percentage of disabilities come with a reduced life-expectancy for one reason for another, so the bill that supposedly doesn't include people with disability covers:

Anyone with an intellectual disability

Anyone with a spinal injury

Anyone with epilepsy

Anyone with continence issues

Anyone with swallowing issues

Anyone whose disability, or medication, results in weight gain.

And for a really disturbing twist, it's potentially going to be affected by socio-economic status, both individually and regionally. 

Comments

[sovay]

"For the purposes of this Act, a person is terminally ill if they have an advanced and progressive disease, illness or condition from which they are unable to recover and that can reasonably be expected to cause their premature death."

It's not like people haven't been talking for as far as I can tell decades about how you cannot offer assisted suicide if you do not also offer an acceptable quality of life!

[davidgillon]

Yeah, lots of opposition groups making that one clear.