Assisted dying bill to be lodged at Scottish Parliament

A new bill to legalise assisted dying will be lodged at the Scottish Parliament, the BBC has learned.

The proposals - brought forward by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur - aim to introduce the right to an assisted death for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.

Previous attempts to change legislation in Scotland have failed.

A cross-party steering group of MSPs have outlined their support of the bill in an open letter.

The bill will be lodged at Holyrood on Monday and it is understood a consultation on its contents is expected to take place in the autumn.

Those who argue against a change in the law say it would undermine palliative care and the risks are too high - claiming it would put pressure on vulnerable patients.

Mr McArthur told BBC Scotland's Sunday Show he believed people should be able to access safe and compassionate assisted dying if they choose, rather than endure a prolonged and painful death.

He said the bill contained "strong safeguards".

"The current blanket ban on such assistance is unjust and causes needless suffering for so many dying people and their families across Scotland," he said.

"[There are] many more examples of those who have been put through, I would argue, needlessly painful, protracted, agonising deaths - and their families and friends are put through the experience with them.

"I think that lived experience is having an effect, not just in terms of public support but political support."

Mr McArthur said he himself had "anxieties" about previous bills and acknowledged that some politicians had those concerns about his current proposal - but said initial conversations were "encouraging".

"I'm confident this has strong cross-party support," he said. "This will be a process that needs to be gone through robustly, involve wide extensive consultation then robust scrutiny by the parliament."

The open letter of support for the bill was signed by 12 MSPs.

They are Karen Adam, Ariane Burgess, Jackson Carlaw, Katy Clark, Rachael Hamilton, Patrick Harvie, Liam Kerr, Gillian Mackay, Rona Mackay, Fulton MacGregor, Lorna Slater and Paul Sweeney.

The bill's "safeguards" include a number of criteria for qualification for assisted dying - for example people have to have a terminal illness and a certificate of mental competency.

They also have to be an adult who lives in Scotland only.

However, Michael Veitch, parliamentary officer at Care for Scotland, said there could be "no adequate safeguards" and that terminal prognoses were "fraught with uncertainty".

He said: "This law will not just affect the small number of individuals who might choose to access assisted suicide.

"It will affect every person living with a terminal illness, fundamentally alter the doctor-patient relationship, devalue disabled people's lives, and undermine wide efforts to prevent suicide."

He added that the experience of other jurisdictions showed that an "incremental extension" of the law was "inevitable".

"There are far better and more ethical ways to help patients at the end of life than allowing lethal drugs to be prescribed on the NHS," he said.

Warning: People may find some of the content below distressing

Zoe Black, Sarah Drummond and Victoria Burns were the main carers for their mother Heather Black when she died earlier this year - they say they found the experience "absolutely cruel".

Diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in March, Heather's health deteriorated quickly until her death on 14 May.

Her daughters say the final days before her death were "gruesome" - they watched her cough and choke as she vomited blood and parts of a tumour, all while on an "unprecedented" volume of pain medication.

Zoe said: "It's not right that we were expected to watch this woman who had been absolute dynamite her whole life be reduced to a shrunken mess in the bed, covered in tumour and foam, her insides out.

"It's horrendous and nobody should witness it."

Before those final, painful days, Sarah described Heather's care as "manageable", saying she and her sisters could chat and laugh with her.

But she said there was a "turning point" in the illness when Heather made it clear she wanted to die - something that chimed with her lifelong wishes of retaining dignity at the end of her life.

"She was really scared and was crying a lot and she just wanted it to end, for the pain to be over," Sarah said.

"We knew she wanted to die. She really didn't want her life to end the way that it did."

Opponents refer to the issue as "assisted suicide" and say it is open to abuse, coercion and exploitation as well as putting pressure on vulnerable people.

However, Ally Thomson, director of Dignity in Dying Scotland, said there was "huge support" among Scottish people and in parliament for the bill and argued that a blanket ban created injustice for suffering families.

She called it a "watershed moment" for dying people in Scotland.

"I would like anybody who would describe this as assisted suicide to speak to the people who have spoken out so bravely about their own experiences of how they are suffering just now," she said.

"They do not want to die but that choice has been taken from them."

Ms Thomson pointed to countries such as New Zealand, Australia and the USA where assisted dying is legal in parts.

"The evidence and research from those places shows that this is a safe choice, a compassionate choice, it is not in any way an alternative to palliative care," she added.

The Humanist Society Scotland has also expressed its support of the bill, having campaigned for the right to an assisted death.

Chief executive Fraser Sutherland said: "The current practice of ignoring the demand for assisted dying at home but allowing people well and rich enough to travel to a private clinic abroad is simply immoral and without a shred of compassion."

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