The Assisted Suicide Bill is very near to the rocks in Scotland. 86% of MSPs who expressed an opinion during a speech in the debate on the McArthur assisted suicide Bill during the Stage 3 debate today spoke against the assisted suicide Bill.
An analysis of the speeches on day one of Stage 3, completed by Right To Life UK’s Policy Team, found that of the 21 MSPs who made speeches and took a position on the Bill, 18 (85.7%) spoke against it and 3 (14.3%) spoke in favour of the Bill. This represents six times the number of MSPs speaking in opposition to the Bill compared to those who supported it in their speeches. The Government Minister did not take a position in his speeches.
The overwhelming opposition to the Bill among those speaking at the Stage 3 debate follows the news yesterday that the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Russell Findlay MSP, had dropped his support of the Scottish assisted suicide Bill, vowing that he will now vote against it as “the risks are too great”.
This now means that the leaders of the three largest parties in Holyrood are opposed to the assisted suicide Bill.
If just seven of the MSPs who voted for the Bill at Stage 1 switch their stance and vote against the Bill at the final vote at Stage 3 next Tuesday 17 March, it will be defeated.
Russell Findlay MSP joins two MSPs who have already publicly indicated that they will be changing their vote from supporting to opposing the Bill, and according to media reports, others are set to follow.
Only four more MSPs have to move from supporting to opposing the Bill for it to be defeated.
Supporters of the McArthur assisted suicide Bill rejected a number of sensible amendments to the Bill today.
Those rejected included amendments to:
- Only permit assisted suicide for terminally ill people who are suffering (Amendment 136 by Daniel Johnson)
- Require a person to have been offered palliative care options before being eligible for assisted suicide (Amendment 138 by Douglas Ross)
- Protect vulnerable people with a history of suicidal thoughts or self-harm (Amendment 139 by Douglas Ross)
- Ensure an opt-in register for medics involved in assisted suicide, protecting conscience (Amendment 142 by Miles Briggs)
- Ensure a pregnant woman could not go ahead with assisted suicide (Amendment 137 by Sue Webber)
Radical supporters of the McArthur assisted suicide Bill also voted to approve an amendment (107) tabled by Liam McArthur to remove the provision in the Bill (Section 18) that provides conscience protections for health professionals.
The decision on whether there will be conscience protections in the Bill and, if so, how they will operate, will now be handed over to Westminster. There will be no accountability or oversight from MSPs and those who will be directly affected by the Bill if it becomes law.
In a joint letter to Holyrood, several medical and professional bodies have warned that removing the “no duty to participate” and employment protections from the primary legislation would weaken transparency and robustness, and leave key matters to a process with limited parliamentary scrutiny.
The signatories included the Association for Palliative Medicine (Scotland), RCGP Scotland, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
