Scotland's assisted dying bill rejected after emotional debate

6 hours ago Angus CochraneSenior political journalist, BBC Scotland MSPs have rejected the chance to make Scotland the first part of the UK to legalise assisted dying.

The proposals, tabled by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, would have allowed terminally-ill, mentally competent adults to seek medical help to end their lives.

Following an emotionally-charged final debate, the bill was defeated by 69 votes to 57.

Opponents raised several concerns about the bill - particularly fears of people being pressured into an assisted death. McArthur accused those who rejected the bill of a "woefully inadequate response to the suffering and trauma experienced by dying Scots and their families".

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would have made it legal for a medical practitioner or authorised health professional to give an eligible patient a lethal drug to end their own life.

To get to that point, they would have to make two declarations affirming their wishes, as well as passing checks from doctors to see if they had been coerced or influenced.

A bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales is being considered at Westminster, though it appears unlikely to pass before the end of the parliamentary term.

McArthur made several changes to the bill in a bid to win over swithering MSPs. This included limiting eligibility to those with less than six months to live, despite the MSP earlier arguing against such a move. But ultimately his efforts were in vain.

Again and again during the final debate, the word that passed the lips of opponents to the bill was "coercion".

Independent MSP Jeremy Balfour - born with no left arm and a right arm that ends at the elbow - said disabled people were "terrified" of assisted dying legislation.

He warned the bill would open "a pandora's box" and said there could be "no meaningful protection" against coercion.

"I'm begging you to consider the consequences for the most vulnerable," Balfour said. Labour's Pam Duncan-Glancy, who uses a wheelchair, urged MSPs to "choose to make it easier to live than to die".

Others raised questions about protections for medics who did not want to participate in assisted dying, and a lack of oversight on doctors who would sign off on the process.

Critics also argued the focus should be on improving palliative care.

The SNP's Ruth Maguire, while also citing concerns about the cost of the proposals, said: "It's not a free choice if you do not have access to good palliative care. "

The MSP, who was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer in 2021, talked of her own life-limiting condition.

"My blood runs cold thinking about sitting in a room in hospital and having a doctor raise [assisted dying] with me as we weigh up treatment options," she told parliament. 'Not good enough' Yet there were also several powerful contributions from supporters of the bill.

McArthur cited the case of one man who was left "begging to have his life ended" after his penis was removed due to cancer.

Throughout the debate, the LibDem MSP was praised for his constructive, measured approach.

But breaking from his typically conciliatory tone, he told MSPs that it was "not good enough" to support the general principles of the bill only to oppose it at stage three.

He said: "As a growing number of countries and states around the world, including Jersey and the Isle of Man, are proving that is another way we can must do better.

This is the change that dying Scott desperately need us to take.

"I implore MSPs to have the courage of your convictions. " Former Green co-leader Lorna Slater, who has previously spoken of her father's "beautiful" assisted death in Canada, fought back tears as she recounted his last moments.

"We should all have the right to choose," she told MSPs.

The SNP's George Adam spoke about his wife Stacey, who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and was watching on from the gallery.

He told parliament: "If the worst should ever come to her, if she was ever facing that unbearable suffering at the end of life, she would want a choice. "

Conservative MSP Sandesh Gulhane, an NHS GP, cited testimony from a patient who told him "you would let a dog die like this", calling for action to stop people ending their lives "alone, scared, in agonising pain".

Supporters of the bill argued MSPs were not facing a binary choice between better palliative care and assisted dying, with Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton insisting the legislation would provide a "powerful matrix of safety".

McArthur's assisted dying bill was the third to have come before the Scottish Parliament since devolution in 1999, but the first to make it past a stage one vote.

MSPs were granted a free vote on the proposals, meaning they were not whipped to vote along party lines.

While the government was neutral on assisted dying, First Minister John Swinney opposed it.

Speaking after the debate, the SNP leader told reporters he was "relieved".

The bill came through the stage one vote, on its general principles, by a relatively comfortable margin of 14 votes.

Yet passing a final vote was always likely to be a tall order, with several parliamentarians backing the bill at stage one not because they supported the law, but because they thought it was an issue that ought to be debated in-depth.

He added that was issue was not "going away".

Ally Thompson of Dignity in Dying said she was "hugely disappointed".

She told BBC Scotland News: "Tonight dying people across Scotland have been dealt a huge blow.

The vote was against safety and against compassion. "

But Dr Gordon Macdonald, CEO of Care Not Killing, expressed relief.

"We believe the bill posed serious risks to the most vulnerable in society - including disabled people and those suffering from domestic abuse," he added. How did your MSP vote on assisted dying? For George Adam; Karen Adam; Tom Arthur; Colin Beattie; Siobhian Brown; Ariane Burgess; Alexander Burnett; Stephanie Callaghan; Jackson Carlaw; Maggie Chapman; Katy Clark; Willie Coffey; Alex Cole-Hamilton; Graeme Dey; Natalie Don-Innes; James Dornan; Jackie Dunbar; Jim Fairlie; Joe FitzPatrick; Kenneth Gibson; Jenny Gilruth; Christine Grahame; Jamie Greene; Ross Greer; Sandesh Gulhane; Rachael Hamilton; Emma Harper; Patrick Harvie; Fiona Hyslop; Liam Kerr; Bill Kidd ; Monica Lennon; Richard Lochhead; Douglas Lumsden; Gordon MacDonald; Gillian Mackay; Mackay, Rona; Ben Macpherson; Gillian Martin; Liam McArthur; Ivan McKee; Paul McLennan; Jenni Minto; Carol Mochan; Willie Rennie; Robertson, Angus; Shona Robison; Mark Ruskell; Lorna Slater; Shirley-Anne Somerville; Kaukab Stewart; Kevin Stewart; Michelle Thomson; Maree Todd; David Torrance; Evelyn Tweed; Elena Whitham Against Clare Adamson; Alasdair Allan; Jackie Baillie; Claire Baker; Jeremy Balfour; Neil Bibby; Sarah Boyack; Miles Briggs; Keith Brown; Finlay Carson; Foysol Choudhury; Angela Constance; Bob Doris; Sharon Dowey; Pam Duncan-Glancy; Tim Eagle; Annabelle Ewing; Fergus Ewing; Russell Findlay; Kate Forbes; Murdo Fraser; Meghan Gallacher; Maurice Golden; Pam Gosal; Mairi Gougeon; Rhoda Grant; Mark; Jamie Halcro Johnston; Clare Haughey; Jamie Hepburn; Craig Hoy; Daniel Johnson; Stephen Kerr; Richard Leonard; Fulton MacGregor; Ruth Maguire; Michael Marra; John Mason; Michael Matheson; Màiri McAllan; Roz McCall; Stuart McMillan; Marie McNair; Pauline McNeill; Edward Mountain; Oliver Mundell; Audrey Nicoll; Paul O'Kane; Ash Regan; Emma Roddick; Douglas Ross; Alex Rowley; Davy Russell; Anas Sarwar; Graham Simpson; Liz Smith; Collette Stevenson; Alexander Stewart; Nicola Sturgeon; Paul Sweeney; John Swinney; Mercedes Villalba; Sue Webber; Annie Wells; Tess White; Martin Whitfield; Brian Whittle; Beatrice Wishart; Humza Yousaf Abstained Neil Gray (proxy vote cast by Graeme Dey)