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Scottish Parliament has passed the first phase of a bill that allows terminal illness to end its life, taking it a step closer to joining others who have passed similar laws in dying.
Tuesday’s vote – Holyrood considered the dying bill for the third time – as Westminster lawmakers are considering similar laws in England and Wales.
Laws passed in countries such as Australia and New Zealand demonstrate that dying can be safely provided, said Liam MacArthur, the liberal Democratic MSP who proposed the bill.
After an emotional five-hour discussion at Holyrood, MSPS voted between 70 and 56, supporting death aid for terminal adult bills with one abstention.
Liberal Democrat MSP Liam MacArthur said he will make an effort to “ensure that this bill is robustly protected” © Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
In an opening statement to the discussion, MacArthur urged his colleagues to grant first-stage approval, thereby allowing them to submit amendments prior to the final vote.
After Tuesday’s vote, MacArthur said, “We will ensure that the bill is robustly protected and that terminal adults can slowly access death.”
In the second phase of the bill, Holyrood’s Health Committee will consider and vote on amendments to the bill, possibly after the summer break.
The final legislative hurdle must probably advance to the New Year and be enacted before the May parliamentary elections.
The bill requires two doctors to ensure that adults are sick and mentally compatible at the terminal stage before self-administering the fatal dose. It would also make someone a crime to force someone to demand a death of aid.
Labor MSP Pam Duncan-Glancing warned that “safeguards are not sufficient” © Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
Pam Duncan-Glancing, a disability labor MSP, said the bill was a “slippery slope.”
“When many people have no choice throughout their lifetimes, it is not possible to suggest that the introduction of suicide-assisted adjustment is the last thing about options. Protective measures alone are not enough.”
Several well-known MSPs were shown before the argument that they voted against the bill, including Minister John Swinney and his predecessors Hamza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon.
Swinney, who voted against the previous bill on the issue, said he feared that the law would change the relationship between patients and doct and put pressure on elderly people and illnesses to prolong their lives.
Sturgeon also raised “basic” concerns, including fear of “a recognized duty to die.”
