The Assisted Dying Bill is a proposed law that will give terminally ill adults in Scotland the option to control the manner and timing of their death.
Liam McArthur MSP’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill
Liam McArthur MSP has put forward the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, proposing a law that:
is for terminally ill, mentally competent adults only.
has a waiting period to give dying people time to reflect on their decision.
requires assessment by two doctors.
requires that a person is aware of all their other options, including palliative care.
allows doctors to conscientiously object from being involved in the process.
requires the dying person to take the life-ending medication themselves and does not permit another person to do it for them.
introduces a new offence explicitly making it a crime to coerce someone into an assisted death.
The progress of the Bill so far
Proposals for the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill were put forward for public consultation by Liam McArthur MSP in 2021. The consultation ran from September to December 2021 and received the highest number of responses to date for a consultation on a Members Bill in the Scottish Parliament. 14,038 responses were submitted.
A report analysing the public consultation responses found that 76% of respondents were fully supportive of the proposal. A further 2% were partially supportive.
The proposals then needed the backing of MSPs to be granted the right to be introduced. In a matter of hours, the required number of MSP signatories were secured. In total, 36 MSPs backed the bill, double the number needed.
The Bill was introduced to the Scottish parliament in March 2024 and a public consultation ran from June to August 2024.
What happens next
Stage 1
The Bill will be scrutinised by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee (the Lead Committee), before the Stage 1 debate and vote.
Stage 2
If the Bill passes at Stage 1, then the bill can progress to Stage 2 – amendments. At this stage MSPs can propose changes. The amendments are debated and decided on at a meeting of a committee, likely to be the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee again. Only the committee members can vote on amendments at this stage.
Amendments
If any amendments are agreed to at Stage 2, a new (amended) version of the Bill is published. This is the version considered at Stage 3.
Stage 3
Stage 3 is the final debate and vote before a bill becomes law via Royal Assent.
How to support the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill
Scotland’s law on assisted dying is forcing people to suffer unnecessarily.
To end this injustice, we’re building the biggest ever public record of support for assisted dying in Scotland.
The current Assisted Dying Bill is the most recent in a number of attempts to change the law.
Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill (2013)
What the Bill proposed
The Bill would have allowed a person with a terminal, life-limiting or life-shortening disease to end their life after being prescribed life-ending medication by a doctor.
The process and outcome
Margo Macdonald, an independent MSP who lived with Parkinson’s disease, drafted the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill in 2012.
Sadly Margo died in 2014. Patrick Harvie, a Green MSP, took over as the Bill’s sponsor. It was eventually debated in the Scottish Parliament in May 2015, where it was defeated in the First Stage debate. While it was comprehensively defeated, the support for the Bill doubled compared to the previous Bill debate at Holyrood in December 2010.
End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill (2010)
What the Bill proposed
This Bill would have allowed people suffering from a progressive condition, permanent physical incapacitation or terminal illness to be given assistance to die by a registered medical practitioner.
The process and outcome
Independent MSP Margo MacDonald introduced the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament on 20 January 2010. Consultation on the Bill ended on 12 May.
Members of the Scottish Parliament debated the Bill in December 2010 and the Bill was voted down.
Assisted dying across the British Isles
Other nations in the British Isles are also attempting to change their laws on assisted dying.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill was introduced to the House of Lords in July 2024.
We’re close to winning a new assisted dying law – but we may need to take further campaign actions together. Can we email you updates and vital actions?