Scotland becomes one step closer to assisted dying
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Scotland is close to following in the footsteps of Switzerland as it has been given initial backing to legislation that will allow assisted dying to become legal for those who are terminally ill.
The proposed bill was created by Scottish Liberal Democrat, MSP, Liam McArthur who claimed that terminally ill people faced “horrendous choices and bad deaths,” and that due to this it should be fully considered.
Assisted dying is legal in several countries, including Australia, the USA, and Canada, meaning that more than 300 million people have access to this. Assisted dying is thought to be an empathetic and fair way of handling difficult situations when someone is in pain or when treatment hasn’t worked.
McArthur’s bill states that someone can access assisted dying if two doctors confirm that they are suffering from an advanced and progressive illness, and that the person suffering has have the mental capacity to fully understand their decision. It must also be done without someone’s help.
However, it was meant with opposition before the vote.
More than 60 disability activists called for the bill to be rejected while others have called for it to be changed.
Silent Witness star, Liz Carr, stated that bill worried her as she felt that it would disproportionately affect disabled people.
She said: ““To qualify for assisted suicide under the Bill a person must have an ‘advanced and progressive disease, illness or condition from which they are unable to recover and that can reasonably be expected to cause their premature death’.
“As someone who as a teenager was told by doctors that I wouldn’t live to be old because of my condition, this definition applies to me.”
Scottish political figureheads such as Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, and Anas Sarwar all stated that they voted against it with Sturgeon stating that it was the “most difficult decision” and cited fears of coercion as reasoning.
This bill passed its first parliamentary vote on 13 May, by 70 to 56, with only one abstention.