A Jewish leader has compared controversial proposals for assisted suicide to the Holocaust.
Ephraim Borowski, director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, referred to Holocaust Memorial Day to make “a point about practicalities rather than principles” during an evidence session with the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee.
He said: “It’s now a well-known cliche that the Holocaust didn’t begin in Auschwitz, it ended in Auschwitz.
“In terms of principle, it began with the belief that some lives are not worth as much as others and that is precisely what we are faced with here.”
Leaders from the Church of Scotland, Catholic Church, Free Church, Episcopal Church and the Muslim Council of Scotland also registered their objections.
The Bill, which is being taken forward by Green MSP Patrick Harvie, would allow those with terminal or life-shortening illnesses to obtain help in ending their suffering.
Mr Harvie said: “This Bill would empower people to make choices about their own lives, in an informed and supported way, and to decide what kind of assistance they need.
“It’s precisely because all our lives are of equal worth that each of us should know we have the right to be in control and to have our wishes respected.”