Scottish Parliament rejects assisted dying bill for terminally ill adults

Body

Scottish lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a bill that would have allowed terminally ill adults in Scotland to seek help to end their lives, a vote that leaves the proposal short of becoming law. Members in the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament voted 69-57 against the legislation, with one abstention, after an emotional debate lasting about three hours in which lawmakers tore up papers and applauded as they took turns to give their views.

The bill would have enabled people in Scotland with six months or less to live to seek assistance to end their life. Lawmakers were given a “free vote” on the measure, meaning they could decide according to their consciences rather than strictly following party lines.

Liam McArthur, the Liberal Democrat lawmaker who drew up the Scottish bill, urged colleagues to support it. He argued that people who are dying should not have to suffer against their will and said current law has failed to provide adequate compassion and safety, adding that lawmakers should “look terminally ill Scots in the eye and make this change.”

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes of the governing Scottish National Party said she would vote against the bill, arguing it was unsafe. Forbes said doctors, psychiatrists, pharmacists and palliative care specialists—the professionals tasked with implementing any such law—were asking lawmakers not to proceed and that they believed the bill was unsafe.

Other opponents raised concerns about potential pressure on vulnerable groups. Lawmaker Pam Duncan-Glancy argued that “disabled people don’t have real choices in life,” and she said it was “inconceivable to suggest the introduction of assisted dying is about choice.”

Supporters of assisted dying said the defeat was a setback for efforts to change Britain’s laws. The AP reported that in England and Wales, a similar bill legalizing assisted dying remains bogged down in the British Parliament in London, after the House of Commons approved it in June and it was then held up by more than 1,000 amendments in the House of Lords.

With the current parliamentary session expected to end in May, it appeared unlikely the assisted dying bill would pass both houses in time, which would effectively kill the proposal for the session and require supporters to start over with any new attempt.

The proposal also faces different legal timelines across the British Crown. The islands of Jersey and the Isle of Man—British Crown possessions not part of the United Kingdom—have passed similar laws and are waiting for formal approval by King Charles III.

Assisted suicide, in which patients take a lethal drink prescribed by a doctor, is legal in a number of other countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and parts of the United States, with eligibility requirements varying by jurisdiction.