Is assisted dying right for Scotland?

By Jamie Fairley

There is fresh debate on the subject of euthanasia

UK islands Jersey and the Isle of Man have accepted a bill in favour of assisted dying, with Jersey currently offering the service free of charge to those eligible. It remains to be seen whether Scotland and the rest of the UK will follow suit.

This is the first major advancement in the field in the UK and has brought a lot of talking points among the UK Government and MPs across the country.

In 2013, the late MSP Margo MacDonald gave the Scottish Government their first taste of the topic when she proposed a bill on assisted dying.

The bill failed to pass, but since then, the topic has been a hot talking point across the country with many different viewpoints, both for and against as many see death as an awkward topic to handle.

Dean Murdoch, from Motherwell, said: “I hate the idea of it and don’t see how it could be appropriate to put the decision in the hands of an ill person. There’s no going back, once it’s done it’s done.”

Lynne Wilkie, from Pollokshaws, said: “I feel anyone should be able to have a choice in their life and how they want to end it if they have a reason.

“There could be downsides to it, but I still believe that this is the right solution, and I would consider it if I were in the situation myself.”

Like all things in life, this is a topic that will always split people’s opinions and cause great debate, leaving the government in an awkward position when facing these bills and passing laws legalising it.

Television personality Dame Esther Rantzen has been very vocal on the topic. She suffers from stage-four lung cancer, which is terminal, and wants to be able to choose assisted dying. She has signed up for assisted dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland, as this option is still unavailable in the UK.