Scotland’s parliament considers assisted dying as poll shows support

LONDON: Legislation that would allow people living in Scotland with a terminal illness to take their own lives was laid before the country’s parliament on Thursday as a poll showed the policy is backed by most of the population.

If the legislation is passed, Scotland would join other countries such as Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Austria and Ecuador in allowing assisted dying in certain circumstances.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would give mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal condition the right to end their life.

The legislation would include safeguards such as independent assessments by two doctors and a 14-day cooling-off period. There would be a requirement for those requesting an assisted death to have lived in Scotland for at least a year.

Individuals would need to self-administer the substance that will end their life.

The plan was put forward in a private members’ bill by Liam McArthur, a Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish parliament, who this week said that he “absolutely convinced” the legislation will be passed because there is growing public support for the policy.

A survey by the campaign group Dignity in Dying, which campaigns in favour of legalisation, found that more than three quarters of Scots were in favour of the policy.