MSP Margo plans a right-to-die Bill

Controversial new plans legalising euthanasia in Scotland could go before Holyrood in as little as six months.

Margo MacDonald Margo MacDonald

Veteran MSP Margo MacDonald said she hoped to introduce a Bill allowing mercy killings and helping terminally ill patients “die with dignity” by Easter next year.[>

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The move is likely to be opposed by pro-life campaigners and church leaders.[>

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Ms MacDonald, who has Parkinson’s disease, wants the new laws to make assisted suicide legal and shield from prosecution carers who help a loved one end their life.  [>

I think the law in England will change soon. There are campaigners at Westminster too

Veteran MSP Margo MacDonald

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She said her proposals would adopt aspects of the Dutch system, which allows patients to enlist the help of doctors. It would also mean family members who are present when an ill relative takes their own life or helps them in arranging a suicide are not pursued by police. [>

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While in England it is illegal to commit suicide, that is not the case in Scotland, but as the law stands anyone who assists a person to die can be charged with culpable homicide or even murder.[>

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During a Holyrood debate on the issue earlier this year, Ms MacDonald, 65, told fellow MSPs she would like to be allowed to bring about her own death if her condition deteriorates. [>

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Yesterday she dismissed claims that a law change in Scotland could lead to so-called “death tourism”, with people from other parts of the UK coming to die here. She said: “I think the law in England will change soon. There are campaigners at Westminster too.” [>

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Ms MacDonald’s Bill would incorporate the patient’s right to choose to end his or her life, with assistance, into the principles of palliative care.[>

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She travelled to the Netherlands last year to make a TV documentary on the issue. Her plans for new legislation come after multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy failed in her bid to clarify the law in England. She wanted to know if husband Omar Puente would face prosecution if he helped her take her own life abroad.[>

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Earlier this year Glasgow GP Iain Kerr, 62, was suspended for six months after he prescribed sleeping pills to a woman who later took her own life. And West Mercia Police are investigating the death of paralysed rugby player Daniel James, 23, in a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.[>

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Ms MacDonald said she would be launching a three-month consultation exercise in a few weeks, adding: “I believe it inhumane and ultimately futile for the law to deny this right to choose. [>

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“I respect people’s religious faith dictates they should leave the end of life to God’s decision.[>

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I respect it, but I don’t agree with it.”[>

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