ASSISTED DYING: NEW BILL LODGED
As a new Bill to legalise assisted dying is lodged at the Scottish Parliament, SP looks at how the Bill will affect community pharmacists, who will be responsible for dispensing the lethal medication…
A
new Bill to legalise assisted dying has been lodged at the Scottish Parliament, with twelve MSPs signing in support.
The Bill, which has been lodged by MSP Liam MacArthur, the first to be lodged since the late independent MSP, Margo MacDonald, lodged the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill with the Scottish Parliament in 2013. That Bill was rejected in 2015 by 82 votes to 36.
The Bill seeks to allow those with terminal illnesses to seek the help of a doctor to end their own life and to have assistance from others, who would not be subject to prosecution
As it stands, it is not actually illegal to attempt suicide in Scotland but helping someone take their own life could lead to prosecution, depending on the circumstances.
Now Liam MacArthur has lodged a new Bill, which, if passed, would permit assisted dying for adults, who are both terminally ill and mentally competent.
The Bill's ‘safeguards’ include a number of criteria for qualification for assisted dying. People have to have, for example, a terminal illness and a certificate of mental competency. They also have to be an adult who lives in Scotland only.
While bodies such as The Humanist Society Scotland have expressed their support of the Bill, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Bill hasn’t received overall support.
The Bill has already been opposed by 175 healthcare professionals from a variety of specialities, who recently outlined their concerns to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf in a letter.
The Bill comes at the same time as a new poll has revealed that there is overwhelming support among Scots for the Scottish parliament to reconsider the law on assisted dying.
The research, involving 1148 adults in Scotland, which was commissioned by Dignity in Dying Scotland, found that 86 per cent of the public think the Scottish Parliament should examine the issue, with more than three quarters of those asked saying this should be done within two years.
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scottishpharmacist.com
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