Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill “Adults” Bill:
SCOTLAND’S PREJUDICIAL TRANSACTION
It is perverse when society provides a competent adult — a citizen — the means to kill themselves. It is vastly worse to provide that fatal “assistance” to an immature adolescent.
The front man in Scotland, Liam McArthur MSP tabled ‘his’ Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill last week. One wonders how much came from him when the person drafting the Bill in his parliamentary office was funded by Dignity in Dying, Friends at the End & the Humanist Society, Scotland.
“ADULT”
From the time McArthur proposed the Bill ~3 years ago, he spouted about it having “vitally important safeguards…” What a load of rubbish and there are already calls for an extension to include NON-terminal illnesses. Here we are focusing purely on the age restriction.
Multiple times the Bill specifies that it is for “adult/s” only. The term [Adult] appears 103 times throughout the Bill — 78 times before coming to the definition on page 16! [“Interpretation” section: 29# of 33 sections.]
They buried the definition well! [pun intended.]
I believe that was intentional. If they can sneak Assisted Suicide for Mature Minors into Scotland, then they will push that extension into other jurisdictions.
Ireland; England/Wales; Mann; Jersey: be warned!
LEGAL AGE OF MATURITY
In the past, many countries had 21 years as the age of maturity. Now, only ~16 countries maintain that limit. In a few jurisdictions the age is 20 or, — as in 7 Canadian Provinces/Territories — 19 years old. The majority of the world now holds to 18 years including Ireland, England, Wales & the Isle of Man and Jersey.
Very few countries have a legal Age of Maturity below 18:
(Click image to follow link to the web-page.)
Scotland reduced the age of maturity from 18 to 16 years in 1991 through the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991, joining those progressive countries of Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Cuba and Kyrgyzstan!
Considering that Scots dropped the age from 21 to 18 years in 1969 and then dropped it to 16 in 1991, maybe their plan is to join the real paragons of the world — Saudi Arabia [15 years]; Yemen [15 years] and Iran [15 years for boys / 9 years for girls...]??
With the increasing evidence that normal adolescent brain development continues up to ~25 years of age, there are few logical reasons to maintain a low age of majority.
A PREJUDICIAL TRANSACTION
The Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 has a clause which, allows for a “Prejudicial Transaction” to be set aside based on young age in certain circumstances. [below.]
There are many exclusions — including “consent to any medical, surgical or dental procedure or treatment” — but patently this clause means that the 1991 law does not set an absolute age of maturity for Scotland at 16-years old.
(Click image to follow link to the legislation.)
Twisted people like McArthur pretend that the decision to commit suicide is a “health-care treatment.”
Suicide is not health-care.
Adolescents cannot consent to death.
Killing yourself is as prejudicial as it gets …and cannot be set aside later.
Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 @kevinhay77