Nearly 300 amendments submitted to assisted dying bill

MSPs on Holyrood’s health committee will today begin scrutiny of Lib Dem Liam McArthur’s assisted dying bill.

Four meetings of the committee have been set aside to vote on the amendments, of which there are 287 in total.

McArthur’s own amendments include clarifying that a person is not terminally ill only because they have a disability or mental disorder and a “no-duty to participate directly in assisted dying” clause for healthcare professionals.

Other amendments include extending the offence of coercion to cover all stages of the assisted dying process, including administration of medication.

MSPs backed the general principles of the bill at stage one earlier this year.

If passed the legislation will allow terminally ill people to end their lives if ruled mentally fit to make the decision by two doctors.

McArthur said: “The amendments that I am putting forward take on board the views of experts who will have a role in the delivery of extending the choice of assisted dying to terminally ill patients. They also address points that the parliament's health committee wished to see clarified at this stage in the process.

“Each amendment I have submitted underpins the bill's driving principles of safety, compassion and choice. They balance the need for dying people to be able to access the option of assisted dying with strong protections and safeguards. They increase transparency around end-of-life care and decision making. They ensure that the decision of whether or not to participate in the process is firmly in the hands of individual medics by shifting from an opt out to an opt in system.”