by Bill Heaney
Liam McArthur will today make his final pitch to MSPs as the Scottish Parliament prepares to vote on the most comprehensively safeguarded assisted dying bill in the world.
On Tuesday morning at 9.30, Mr McArthur will meet with terminally Scots and fellow supporters of his bill outside the Scottish Parliament as they urge MSPs to back the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults bill. But there will be a demonstration too made up of people who oppose the bill, even now at the eleventh hour.
Today is St Patrick’s Day and although it is no longer a Holyday of Obligation thousands of Scots of Irish descent will go to Mass where their priests will from the pulpit make a plea to them to make last minute telephone calls or send e mails to their MSPs urging them to vote against the bill.
LIam McArthur MSP, Dame Jackie Baillie, Brendan O’Hara MP and Russell Findlay MSP.
However, MSPs such as Dame Jackie Baillie who represents Labour in Dumbarton, Helensburgh and Lomond in the Holyrood parliament has already told constituents in a widely distributed letter that she will not be supporting Mr McArthur’s bill.
Brendan O’Hara, a former Catholic newspaper journalist, SNP MP politician and former TV producer is the MP for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, which includes Cardross though Helensburgh and the Rosneath Peninsula north through the West Highland to Oban, since the 2024 election, having previously represented the Argyll and Bute constituency from 2015 to 2024. He will not have a vote in Edinburgh.
Russell Findlay is the leader of the Scottish Conservatives and he has announced that he will be voting against whilst the Liberal Democrats are expected to come out as one in support of Liam McArthur’s bill, although this is a free vote and the party whip will not apply in this case.
Bishop John Keenan, head of the Scottish Conference of Catholic Bishops, said: “Polling consistently shows that when people learn more about the detailed reality of assisted suicide, including the woeful lack of basic safeguards, the risk of coercion, the impacts on disabled and vulnerable groups, the effects on palliative care provision and so on, support [for this bill] drops significantly.”
Mr McArthur issued a statement yesterday (Monday) which said:
Over the past week:
• There were 175 amendments accepted, 83 from those who opposed the Bill at Stage 1 (47%)
• It has been confirmed that the bill is legislatively competent with section 104 orders agreed and confirmation from the Secretary of State for Scotland that the UK Government will deliver these protections. This was reiterated by the Scottish Health Secretary on Monday morning.
• Every health professional can be assured their rights are strengthened – no duty to participate, no detriment and the bill cannot be enacted until the UK Government enables relevant provisions relating to the training, qualifications and experience requirements for healthcare professionals
• Daniel Johnson’s amendment ensures that patients must have a six months prognosis
• Ruth Maguire’s amendment doubles down on the safeguards to detect and prevent coercion. During the assessment, the doctor must carry out as assessment in private to make sure the person is acting voluntarily. They must consider direct and indirect coercion
• Fulton McGregor’s amendment ensures doctors making assessments make a request to the person’s local authority as to whether they are being provided with social or mental health care, adding in even more protection for vulnerable people
• Palliative care access and uptake will be greatly improved as a result of amendments including doctors carrying out assessments must discuss with the person their diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options, palliative, hospice and other care available including symptom management and psychological support, and requirement to assess provision of palliative care alongside the Act to Scottish Ministers’ 5 year review
• Scottish Ministers will be required to prepare and publish guidance relating to a number of issues which will help consistency in practice, and that guidance will be reviewed by Parliament for approval, and be reviewed every 5 years adding an additional layer of oversight to the guidance.
The bill will now face a final vote on Tuesday evening at 10pm.
Liam McArthur said: “When I launched this bill, I said that I wanted to deliver a robust and well safeguarded law that would give terminally ill Scots with mental capacity the choice of an assisted death if they wanted one. After five years of development, consultation, revision and amendment, that bill now sits before Parliament.
“Throughout this process public support has been unwavering. This bill has the overwhelming support of a significant majority of Scots regardless of religious affiliation, political party or disability status.
“MSPs have added detailed amendments on coercion, prognosis and protection of vulnerable groups and there are cast iron protections for healthcare professionals ready to go.
“To my MSP colleagues I want to say this: This is now the toughest and most comprehensively safeguarded assisted dying bill in the world. If you believe that dying people should not have to suffer against their will and you have heard, like I have, of the many instances where they have been simply failed by the lack of compassion and safety in our current law, you now have to back this bill. It is time to look terminally ill Scots in the eye and make this change.”