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Scotland's parliament may reject new assisted suicide bill
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by mudricky | January 24, 2010 at 04:27 pm
349 views | 69 Recommendations | 7 comments
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An independent MSP (member of the Scottish Parliament) Margo MacDonald, who has Parkinson's disease, has submitted a bill to the Scottish Parliament that will allow terminally ill people to an assisted suicide.
But a survey carried out by the BBC asked two-thirds of MSPs what they though, 17 supported the bill, 53 said they were against and 20 were undecided.
MSPs will vote on the bill in the autumn of Scot's can choose when to die.
How does the bill work?
- A person must be terminally ill or "permanently physically incapacitated"
- A request must be made to, and approved by, a doctor and psychiatrist
- Both must be asked twice after 15-days cooling off period
- Assistance must be supervised by the approving doctor
- Close friends and relatives banned from administering drug
- Only over-16s qualify
- Applicants must be registered with Scottish GP for 18 months
- Bill does not apply to those with dementia or other degenerative mental condition
A cross-party committee at the Scottish parliament is to investigate legalising assisted suicide after an MSP succeeded in tabling a bill to allow doctors to end the lives of terminally-ill patients.The committee may visit the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where more than 100 Britons have already killed themselves, and call evidence from other European and north American states where assisted suicide is already legal as part of their inquiry.
Margo McDonald, the independent MSP who tabled the bill, said she was now more hopeful her bill would be passed than in 2008 when, in an emotionally-charged speech, she first told the Scottish parliament she wanted the freedom to end her life legally if her condition degenerated significantly. She has Parkinson's disease.
Most MSPs are opposed to plans to allow terminally ill people to seek help to die at a time of their choosing, a BBC Scotland survey has suggested.
Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, who has Parkinson's disease, has brought a bill to the Scottish Parliament.
A survey of two-thirds of MSPs showed 17 supported the bill, 53 said they were against and 20 were undecided.
Ms MacDonald said the results were better than expected and she was hopeful of winning further support.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 17:12 on January 24th, 2010
Good for them Scots! Let us hope they do reject it.
at 00:13 on January 25th, 2010
Agree 100 %. I have seen enough friends suffer.
at 00:15 on January 25th, 2010
Same here - I think the law should be allowed.
at 21:53 on January 24th, 2010
l am split on this. l don;t favor killing someone even if he wants to die but also l would not want to live in pain and be unable to move.
at 00:15 on January 25th, 2010
I think we're all split on this issue, but I think the option has to exist. Obviously it has to be closely controlled to avoid abuse.
at 01:07 on January 25th, 2010
People need to be able to decide when they want to die. I had an uncle whose both legs became gangrene. He would have only survived had he agreed to the amputations of both. He decided he didn't want to live without legs so just refused the operation. He organised a living funeral. His family and friends attended. They played his favorite music, read his favorite poems. Of course, they also drank his favorite beer. After 5 days he died. I hope when it's my turn I too will be able to have a living funeral. People should have the right to decide if they want to die provided they are mentally competent and not in a coma unless it states otherwise in their Wills. Maybe people need to have a Living Will to cover these matters.
at 09:03 on January 25th, 2010
This is an important issue that many shy away from discussing. Modern medicine can keep a person breathing long after hope of recovery has passed. A person with say, Lou Gherig's disease should have the right to die painlessly rather than suffocate slowly.