We believe the right law for Scotland is one that allows assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults. We do not support a wider law.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would introduce a law that is safe, fair and compassionate. The proposed law provides choice for those who urgently need it and improves protections for everyone.
This bill builds on best practice in assisted dying laws overseas, including in Australia, New Zealand, and 10 states and one federal district in the US, to set out a practical model for law change in Scotland.
Find out more about the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
The current law on assisted dying creates a blanket ban on choice at the end of life in Scotland. Research shows that the ban is dangerous and unpopular. The ban on assisted dying fails terminally ill people and their loved ones.
The law doesn’t prevent people from taking their own lives. Dying people still seek control over their deaths, but they are forced to travel overseas or do this in dangerous ways behind closed doors.
People are suffering because of the lack of access to assisted dying. The Office of Health Economics estimates that even if every dying person who needed it had access to the level of care currently provided in hospices, 591 Scots a year would still have no relief of their pain in the final three months of their life.
We campaign for a clear and specific law that provides choice for those who need it and protection for us all.
The decision about how a change in the law should be implemented is a matter for the Scottish Parliament. We campaign to support the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, proposing a law that:
We also campaign to support several bills in Westminster and the assisted dying proposals in Jersey and the Isle of Man.
We campaign to introduce laws that have measures to assess eligibility, protect against coercion, ensure medication is handled safely, and monitor every part of the process in a robust and transparent way.
Find out more about the law on assisted dying in Scotland.
Open discussion about assisted dying by the medical community is vital to safely and effectively reforming our law. In recent years many organisations that represent healthcare professionals have adopted a neutral position on assisted dying. They have recognised that this position represents their members, respects dying people, and allows them to fully contribute to the debate.
The following organisations have all adopted a neutral position:
As well as campaigning to change the law on assisted dying, we also support better end-of-life care for all. Assisted dying and good quality end-of-life care must go hand in hand to give dying people choice and control. International evidence shows this is possible.
Alongside changing the law, Australian states have invested over half a billion pounds in palliative care. Oregon – where assisted dying has been in place for more than 25 years – is considered to have among the best palliative care in the US.
Dying people are already ending their lives to avoid painful and undignified deaths. Many pay thousands of pounds to travel abroad to have the choice of a safe, peaceful death with medical support.
Many cannot travel so end their lives at home without protection or support. Many more are suffering and dying without dignity because they have no choice.
We believe dying people should have the option to control their death safely and comfortably at home.
Terminally ill people deserve the right to die on their own terms, but Scotland’s current law against 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. We’ll take it to the Scottish Parliament.