THE politician championing proposals first put forward by the late Margo MacDonald to legalise assisted suicide has called on fellow MSPs to support them so they are not thrown out of the Scottish Parliament next week.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Green co-convener, urged parliamentarians across the political spectrum in Holyrood to back the general arguments of his plan even if they don’t agree with some of its details, which can be amended at a later stage.
MSPs will be given a free vote on the bill, meaning it is left up to their individual conscience rather than according to the party line.
Harvie’s Assisted Suicide Bill, originally introduced by McDonald, encountered a critical set back last month when members of Holyrood’s heath committee failed to back it and now it faces being jettisoned.
In their report MSPs described it as “flawed” and said it faced “major challenges” in proceeding.
But Harvie yesterday pleaded with fellow MSPs to allow the bill to go forward so that those with terminal or life-shortening illnesses can legally obtain help to die.
“All of us will have constituents who express strong opposition to the provisions in the bill,” he wrote in a response to MSPs on the health committee.
“All of us will have other constituents who are firmly of the view that their life is their own and that they have a right to make the choice enabled by this bill, if they find themselves faced with an illness or condition which leaves them with a quality of life they find unacceptable and from which they have no prospect of improvement.”
He added: “Many of us will have personal experiences which inform our position on this matter. I am sure that Members will listen with an open mind to all perspectives on this question. Since taking the bill on, I have certainly attempted to do so.
“Whatever views may exist about the detailed operation of legislation in this area, I would appeal to all those who support the basic argument, and to those who agree that a need exists to address the lack of clarity in the current law, to support the bill and allow the debate to continue.”
He added: “As the ‘inheritor’ of this bill from the late Margo MacDonald MSP, I have taken on the task of presenting it to Parliament as originally drafted. However, I am certainly open to discussing amendments which are intended to improve the operation of the legislation. I hope all members who support the basic principle that people in Scotland should have the ability to exercise choice at the end of their lives, and who believe that this should include the ability to access assistance to end their lives if they see no acceptable alternative, will vote in favour of the bill in order to allow it to proceed to the amending stages, where that discussion on the detail can take place.”
Earlier this year a poll suggested that public opinion appeared to be firmly behind the proposals which had also received celebrity backing from author Ian Rankin, actor Elaine C Smith and Scots Makar Liz Lochhead.
But when the committee report was published Bob Doris MSP, deputy convener of the health committee, said he acknowledged the positive intentions in bringing the legislation forward but said the bill would need “significant amendment” to progress.
MSPs also raised concerns that the bill had the potential to undermine suicide prevention messages by “softening cultural perceptions of suicide at the perimeters”.
The committee’s report analysed issues including the existing law, compassion, autonomy, mental capacity and the role of healthcare professionals.
It said: “The committee is not persuaded by the argument that the lack of certainty in the existing law on assisted suicide makes it desirable to legislate to permit assisted suicide.”
Harvie’s Bill is the second attempt to legislate for assisted suicide at Holyrood, after previous proposals were rejected by MSPs in a free vote in 2010.
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