Proposals to legalise assisted suicide are "unnecessary, unethical and uncontrollable", say campaigners opposed to the move.
Care Not Killing (CNK) has launched an online petition calling on MSPs to reject a Bill that would allow those with terminal or life-shortening illnesses to obtain help in ending their suffering.
The Assisted Suicide Bill is being taken forward by Green MSP Patrick Harvie on behalf of former independent MSP Margo MacDonald, who died in April following a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
It is the second attempt to pass such a Bill at the Scottish Parliament, the first having been voted down by MSPs in 2010.
Holyrood's Justice Committee is due to take evidence on the practical application and legal aspects of the Bill next Tuesday.
CNK, an umbrella group that includes disability and human rights groups, healthcare providers and faith-based bodies, says the current law making assisted suicide illegal is "clear and right" and more must be done instead to improve palliative care.
Spokesman Dr Gordon Macdonald said: "Any change in the law would place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others.
"The Scottish Parliament rightly rejected the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia just four years ago out of concern for public safety."
Dr Macdonald claimed current laws are "working well", with only 150 British people having travelled abroad to commit assisted suicide or euthanasia in 10 years.
He said: "In every free democratic society there are limits placed on human freedom in order to protect the common good and vulnerable people. The law must not be changed to accommodate the wishes of a small number of desperate and determined people at the expense of the rights of others.
"Once any so-called 'right to die' is established we will see incremental extension with activists applying pressure to expand the categories of people who qualify for it. The right to die will become a duty to die."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article