Veteran MSP Margo MacDonald spoke out today about her campaign to make assisted suicide legal.
Veteran MSP Margo MacDonald spoke out today about her campaign to make assisted suicide legal.
The MSP launched a consultation on plans to make assisted suicide legal, saying helping someone to die could be "the last caring act" a doctor carries out for their patient.
Veteran politician MacDonald, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has already said she would like to be allowed to bring about her own death if her condition deteriorates.
Under the measures she is proposing, people would be able to ask a doctor to help them end their life.
Speaking as she launched her consultation at Holyrood, the independent Lothians MSP said this was "the start of that process towards changing the law in Scotland which would allow autonomy in the matter of physician assisted suicide - dying".
Ms MacDonald said: "There are lots of people up and down Scotland who would like to make sure that they miss the last, and for them most intolerable part of life, because of incapacity, loss of dignity, loss of control, insufferable pain perhaps."
And she added a doctor helping a patient to die could be "the last caring act of physician who is caring for a patient".
Ms MacDonald hopes to bring a Bill before the Scottish Parliament with her proposals.
But to do that she needs the support of at least 18 MSPs.
Under her proposals people would need to be registered with a doctor for "a considerable period of time" before they could request help to die.
They would also have to make two requests for such help, at least 15 days apart.
And following someone's death, there would be a review committee who would verify if all the criteria and safeguards had been met.
Under Mrs MacDonald's proposals those with a degenerative, irreversible condition would be able to ask a doctor for help to die, as would those who had "unexpectedly become incapacitated to a degree they find intolerable".
But other people who also find life intolerable would be allowed to request help to end their life - although in this case the doctor would need to seek a second opinion.
Ms MacDonald said the requirement for someone to be registered with a doctor for a period of time meant she did not think her proposals would lead to people coming to Scotland specifically to end their life.
The British Medical Association are opposed to the proposals, with Dr George Fernie stating: "I'm in absolutely in favour of the consultation but the BMA would be very disappointed if we ended up with having legalised, physician assisted suicide in Scotland."
Dr Fernie added: "People when they have a debilitating illness that may end their life are extremely vulnerable, they're at a fragile stage.
"And our worry is they're going to contemplate ending their life when that really isn't their wish."
But Ms MacDonald insisted there was a "spread of opinion" among doctors on the issue.
She said: "This is at the very interface of private morality and public policy, therefore I would expect doctors to have different opinions."
The organisation Friends at the End is campaigning for the law on assisted suicide to be changed.
Sheila Duffy from the group said: "The problem is families can't help their relatives to die because they might be prosecuted."
She claimed opinion polls had found about 80% of the population were in favour of physician assisted suicide, but added the law was "lagging behind" public opinion on this matter.
And she said: "What we're trying to do is get the law changed to allow physician assisted suicide."
