I see that Margo
MacDonald has been re-elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament
(MSP) and has vowed to revive proposals for a law to legalise ‘assisted dying’
(a specious euphemism for assisted suicide and euthanasia). Her previous End of Life Assistance
(Scotland) bill was overwhelmingly voted down by an 85-16 majority in November
2010 during the last parliament amidst concerns about the dangers it posed to
elderly and disabled people.

Lest we forget why Margo’s bill was quite rightly
rejected I have re-linked my previous blogs on the matter here.

Margo Macdonald’s criticisms of the Care Not Killing
Alliance are without foundation

The Committee scrutinizing Margo Macdonald's Bill have
rejected it – now it is time for MSPs finally to bury it
Margo Macdonald MSP is seriously misleading the Scottish
Parliament over the number of deaths her bill would allow

I see that Margo has also set out plans to
introduce legislation that would crack down on firms lending money to people at
exorbitant rates of interest. That would be a good thing – Britain’s whole
approach to interest and debt needs a radical rethink as brilliantly argued by
Paul Mills in his recent Cambridge
Paper. Let’s hope that she concentrates on that rather than wasting
more parliamentary time and money trying to revive her dangerous euthanasia
bill.

Economic recession plus a law allowing
euthanasia and assisted suicide would provide a deadly cocktail that might push
many vulnerable people over the edge into ending their lives so as not to be a
financial burden on others. Measures to alleviate debt and financial
exploitation should be the real priority.

Dr Peter Saunders is a former general
surgeon and CEO of Christian Medical Fellowship, a UK-based
organisation with 4,500 UK doctors and 1,000 medical students as members. This
article has been cross-posted from his blog, Christian
Medical Comment.