MSPs reject bill to legalise assisted dying
Last updated 3 hours ago
MSPs have voted down a Bill that would have made Scotland the first nation in the UK to legalise assisted dying.
Holyrood rejected the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, brought forward by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, by 57 votes to 69, with Health Secretary Neil Gray having announced earlier in the day he would abstain.
The decision came after opponents of the Bill raised concerns about the impact the legislation could have on vulnerable and disabled people – while others raised concerns about a lack of safeguards for medical professionals opting out of the process.
Speaking at the start of the debate, Mr McArthur said if the legislation was rejected the “issue won’t go away”.
"I am obviously deeply disappointed at the result of tonight’s vote. For many MSPs this will have been the last significant vote they will cast in their time in Parliament. I know many have wrestled with their consciences. They will now have to live with their decisions."
And he added: “All we do by putting off changing the law is push decisions overseas and behind closed doors.”
The debate comes followed several lengthy sessions last week amending the proposed legislation, inserting a clause which means a person would have to reasonably be expected to die within six months before they could request an assisted death.
Only people who have lived in Scotland for at least a year would have been eligible and people would need to have two doctors certify they had a terminal illness and the mental capacity to request help to die.
But opponents raised concerns about the impact the legislation could have on vulnerable people, such as the disabled, and about the risks of coercion.
Others also raised concerns about a lack of safeguards for medical professionals in the Bill, which could not be included as employment issues are reserved to Westminster.
Backing the Bill, Conservative Douglas Lumsden said: “Assisted dying doesn’t mean more people will die, it means less people will suffer."
But Independent MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, who was the first permanent wheelchair user elected to Holyrood, insisted the Bill would “put sick and disabled people at risk”.
Reacting to the result, Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Edward Mountain said: “This was the correct decision.
“This bill had too many holes and posed too many difficulties.
“We must use this moment to improve palliative care, to improve the lives of disabled people, and to ensure we have a system of care that delivers for everyone.”