'This question will not go away' — Margo MacDonald launches new bid to legalise assisted suicide
Scots could help terminally ill friends kill themselves under proposals outlined at Holyrood.
- By David Clegg, political editor
- Published in the Courier : 25.01.12
- Published online : 25.01.12 @ 03.38pm
On Tuesday, veteran politician Margo MacDonald launched a consultation on a fresh Bill to legalise assisted suicide.
The move, which follows a similar attempt in 2010, would involve a trained ''licensed facilitator'' — a so-called ''friend at the end'' — being present when someone is ending their own life.
Ms MacDonald has suggested the role could be carried out by someone like a minister or close friend, but not a relative or someone who stood to gain from the death.
The independent MSP for Lothian believes the measure would help ensure fatal medication was taken correctly and would reduce ''tensions'' in the medical profession over the legislation.
She has also introduced the idea of a registration process, meaning people would sign a declaration that they regard assisted suicide as an option.
''I hope it is an improvement on our first attempt to change a law which we think should be addressed and changed in the way in which we suggest,'' said Ms MacDonald, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and has been in hospital in recent weeks.
''Our objective is to try to ensure that people who have illnesses or conditions for which there is no road back are allowed to choose the place and timing of their own death.
''My hope for this Bill is that MSPs, freed from the immediate pressures of an approaching election, will seek out and then reflect the views of those they represent at Holyrood.
''This question will not go away, and neither will I.''
The consultation comes in the wake of a call for doctors in England and Wales to be allowed to help terminally ill people with less than a year left to live to kill themselves.
The year-long Commission on Assisted Dying said stringent safeguards must be in place to protect vulnerable people from being pressured into the decision.
The proposals from Ms MacDonald were welcomed by John Bishop, secretary of Humanist Society Scotland.
''As a society, we are about promoting the fundamental qualities that make us all human; this includes freedom of choice, dignity and respect,'' he said.
It also won the backing of Sir Graeme Catto, a former president of the General Medical Council, who said: ''I believe that, subject to safeguards, competent adults who are terminally ill should be able to request help to end their lives at a time and place of their own choosing.''
But a spokesman for the Catholic Church attacked the plans, saying deliberate killing is ''always wrong''.
And a spokeswoman for the British Medical Association in Scotland said it remained opposed to assisted suicide ''in principle''.
Ms MacDonald failed to secure the necessary support to pass the controversial legislation at Holyrood in 2010, losing in a 16-85 free vote.
Photo by David Cheskin/PA Archive
04.00pm - 25.01.2012 mark - dundee, scotland Report This
what she really means is the question will not go away and neither will she until she gets the answer she wants.
05.07pm - 25.01.2012 David - Dundee, Scotland Report This
What would I rather? A disease which is going to kill me, possibly requiring nursing care (there goes my dignity), friends and family feeling hopeless, and not having the choice to end my life. Or, do I want to die with dignity and be pain free. I know what I'd want - A CHOICE!!!!
08.44pm - 25.01.2012 Martin - Dundee, Scotland Report This
What is choice though? In Oregon, where assisted suicide has been legalised since 2008, interviews with patients who wanted to use assisted suicide showed that one in four has undiagnosed clinical depression. Is that a real choice?
10.45am - 26.01.2012 Michael MacWhinnie - Edinburgh, Scotland Report This
This is a very personal agenda on the part of Ms MacDonald. Are the people who voted for her being properly represented given the amount of time she spends pursuing her assisted suicide issue?
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