ASSISTED dying proposals are “potentially a lethal weapon” for abusers, experts have warned at Holyrood.

The remarks came in evidence submitted to the Scottish Parliament’s health committee as it examines Lib Dem MSP Liam Arthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, ahead of a Holyrood vote in the coming weeks.

Writing to the cross-party committee Dr Anni Donaldson, honorary research fellow at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow who specialises in the issue of domestic abuse, and Isabelle Kerr, chief executive of the Beira’s Place support service in Edinburgh for victims of sexual assault, warned the Bill “completely ignores the risks” it presents to those subjected to coercive abuse.

In a joint statement, Dr Donaldson and Ms Kerr warned: “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.

“State-sanctioned killing could provide a conducive context for a domestic abuse perpetrator’s ultimate act of control.

“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.

“Women are regularly demeaned and told they are worthless, that they would ‘be better off dead’ or that they are a ‘useless mother’ and their children would be better off without them.

“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.”

Dr Miro Griffiths, spokesman for the Better Way campaign group against assisted suicide, called the letter a significant intervention which “should give MSPs serious pause for thought.”

He added: “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. We’d urge MSPs to oppose the Bill.”

Responding, Mr McArthur said he is “confident that my proposals represent a robust and well safeguarded Bill,” but added: “I remain open to listening to concerns such as the ones raised here.”