Dr. Gordon MacDonald is the Chief Executive of Care Not Killing, a UK campaign organisation opposed to the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia. The organisation was founded in 2006 as a coalition of disability groups, hospices, and palliative care professionals in response to bills brought before Westminster, and has since campaigned against similar legislation at Holyrood, including the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill in 2010 and the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill in 2015. Before taking on his current role, MacDonald worked with CARE and served as an advocate for UNICEF in Scotland.00:00 — Introduction to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill and Care Not Killing. Gordon holds a PhD in Economics.

• 02:13 — Gordon's background and path to becoming Chief Executive of Care Not Killing
• 04:47 — History of the euthanasia debate in the UK, from the 1930s to the early 2000s
• 07:20 — Previous assisted dying bills in the Scottish Parliament: 2010 and 2015
• 09:07 — Definitions: assisted dying, assisted suicide, and euthanasia
• 11:27 — The Netherlands: expansion of euthanasia practice beyond original legal limits
• 13:40 — Rising death tolls in Canada and Oregon and the normalisation of assisted dying
• 20:17 — Contents and ambiguities of Liam McArthur's bill
• 22:27 — What happens when assisted suicide drugs fail to cause death
• 25:29 — Comparing scale: Oregon's assisted suicide figures versus Canada's euthanasia numbers
• 27:34 — Financial costs, the Scottish Government's response, and the flawed financial memorandum
• 30:22 — Impact on palliative care funding and hospice staffing
• 35:36 — The case against legalisation across Western jurisdictions
• 38:16 — Autonomy, human rights, and the limits of individual choice
• 43:57 — Agents of the state and the right to life under the ECHR
• 50:13 — Socioeconomic disparities in who accesses assisted dying in Canada and Oregon
• 53:27 — What happens after the 17 March Stage 3 vote
• 57:14 — Gordon's personal experience of his parents' deaths and the difference palliative care made
• 1:02:53 — Audience questions: the veterinary argument, public opinion polling, and the role of MSPs

Stay in touch - https://thepattersonpost.beehiiv.com/