SCOTLAND – Assisted dying law on track
07 August 2024
Guest article by Friends at the End (FATE)*
In September 2021, Liam McArthur MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, released a public consultation on his proposed law – the “Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill”.
This received the most ever responses to a public consultation in Scotland, over 14,000, with 78% supportive. Following this, Mr McArthur and his team, supported by Friends at the End and other partnership organisations, began drafting a Bill for Scotland.
Scotland is a unique jurisdiction, not entirely legally separate from the UK but with its own devolved parliament and court structure. Its founding principles are compassion, justice, empathy, and respect for the rule of law.
Currently, the law in Scotland means that assisted dying and assisted suicide is homicide, with a charge of murder or culpable homicide being brought if the Lord Advocate (public prosecutor) decides to bring charges.
That is likely set to change later this year or early next. Mr McArthur earned the votes of his fellow MSPs to introduce the Bill, which has since been working its way through the Scottish Parliament.
The Bill is currently at committee stage, with the Health Committee scrutinising its validity, supported by the delegated powers and finance committees. Mr McArthur has been clear from the outset that he believes colleagues’ support is there to get this Bill over the line.
A Medical Advisory Group was set up as part of the process, to provide advice and information to Mr McArthur and his team on the medical aspects of the proposal. As such, the patient pathway under this Bill looks similar to the Australian or US assisted dying models.
Under the Scottish Bill, an adult must have an advanced and progressive terminal illness that is reasonably expected to cause their premature death; no time limit applies, and the criterion of “unbearable suffering” as a legal threshold need not be met. This is a Bill that is measured, evidence-based and the right fit for Scotland, both culturally and politically.
The Scottish Bill has received wide acclamation, with counterparts in the UK considering using it as a template for their own efforts in Westminster. Mr McArthur’s team has also kept abreast of and in close contact with other political efforts in Jersey, the Isle of Man, and Guernsey. Who will be the first to legalise assisted dying in the UK?
Friends at the End supported previous efforts to change the law in 2010 and 2015. There has been a fundamental shift not only in the Scottish political landscape but also in the medical realm and internationally, a domino effect is being felt. The widespread legalisation of assisted dying overseas, and the subsequent data / evidence base that accompanies it, provides comfort and reassurance to MPs who can now make an informed decision with their vote, safe in the knowledge that the choice of assisted dying is a compassionate, just, and dignified option for their citizens.
Once the committee stage has concluded, the Scottish Parliament will likely vote on Mr McArthur’s Bill at the end of this year or early next year. Following that, an implementation phase will occur, similar to that seen in other jurisdictions that have made this choice operational.
The committee is currently considering views and you can share your thoughts and opinions here. Please consider joining / donating or becoming involved in the campaign with Friends at the End.
* Friends at the End (FATE) is a Scottish Charity promoting knowledge and understanding of end of life choices and campaigning to change the law to allow assisted dying in Scotland and across the UK.
