More MSPs than ever before vote to give terminally ill people choice – but falling short of majority
57 MSPs voted in support of Liam McArthur MSP’s landmark assisted dying Bill last night, Tuesday 17th March, but unfortunately this was not enough for the Bill to proceed to an Act despite overwhelming public support for reform.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill proposed to make the choice of assisted dying legal for terminally ill, mentally competent adults, alongside excellent end-of-life care.
57 MSPs voted for the Bill to pass with 69 voting against and one abstaining.
This means that the significant harms caused by the current law remain unresolved. Currently, even with the best palliative care, 11 Scots a week suffer as they die. Every year across the UK, 650 terminally ill people take their own lives, while others make long and arduous journeys to Switzerland, all without any protections in place.
Ally Thomson, Director of Dignity in Dying Scotland, said: “I am so deeply sad that the dying people who want this choice have been dealt this blow. But for as long as dying Scots continue to suffer, this debate is not going away.
“There is now near universal recognition that the current law is harmful to dying people. Those who voted against the Bill have done nothing to stop people with terminal illness from choosing to end their lives.
“They have instead blocked the safeguards and protections this Bill would have established for those who are already making this choice. Theirs was a vote against safety and compassion, not for it.
“I know that so many people will join me in finding this outcome deeply disappointing, but it’s important to recognise that more MSPs than ever before voted to give dying people choice at the end of life. I want to thank each of them for their efforts to end the harmful status quo.
“I also wish to thank Liam McArthur MSP who has been an incredible advocate for dignity and choice at the end of life. He has led this debate with respect, compassion and integrity.
“At the last vote, in 2015, MSPs voted by a margin on greater than three to one against changing the law. Today saw a major shift in Parliamentary opinion that gives us real hope for the future. All the signs are there that, slowly but surely, the Scottish Parliament is catching up to public opinion on assisted dying.
“Thousands of people all over the country have been campaigning for this change, and that work will not stop. Today’s result only stiffens our resolve to keep fighting for a safer and more compassionate law.”
Norma Rivers, from Ayr, who is living with terminal blood cancer, said: “For people like me living with terminal illness, today’s result is incredibly difficult to hear. But knowing that Parliament came so close to changing the law gives me hope.
“I want to live for as long as possible, but I also want the reassurance that I will have dignity and choice at the end of my life. I hope and trust that MSPs will come back to this issue very soon.”
Emma Cooper, Convener of Friends at the End (FATE), said: “We are extremely disappointed to see that MSPs did not reflect the views of the people they represent in the Assisted Dying Bill (Scotland) today. The overwhelming majority of people in every single constituency across Scotland clearly communicated they wanted assisted dying.
“It is hard to understand given the testimony we heard today from terminally ill adults and their loved ones who have too often witnessed frankly horrible deaths.
“The debate has sadly been plagued by misinformation and fears overriding facts. This was not a choice between living or dying, it was simply a question of how. This is not an issue that is going to go away and the fact remains that the status quo lacks compassion.
“End-of-life decisions that hasten death already happen in the NHS every single day, and they do not take place within a transparent framework or with consistent safeguards. Scottish people are going to continue to suffer unnecessarily at the end of life
“Thank you to our partners and Liam McArthur.”
Right to Life: Major victory for the most vulnerable in our society
Liam McArthur’s assisted suicide Bill has been defeated in a major victory for opponents of the Bill by 69 votes to 57, settling the issue in Scotland for a generation after a two-year national debate, and likely striking a mortal blow to the assisted suicide Bill in Westminster.
After two years of debate, and the most intense scrutiny that the question of assisted suicide has ever received in Scotland, Holyrood, widely regarded as one of the world’s most socially and politically progressive legislatures, has come to the conclusion that introducing assisted suicide is unsafe and dangerous.
Ahead of the vote, the Deputy Political Editor of The Scotsman, David Bol, described the final vote on the Bill at Stage 3 tonight as “potentially the biggest decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament”, and this was echoed by other prominent political commentators.
The Bill was defeated at its decisive stage, with the leader of the SNP, Scottish First Minister John Swinney, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, and the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Russell Findlay, all uniting in their opposition to the proposals. They were joined by Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and former First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.
Polling shows public supportive of rejection of assisted suicide Bill
The defeat of Scotland’s assisted suicide Bill is consistent with polling published this week that showed the Scottish public had major concerns with legalising assisted suicide and the negative impact that it would have on the most vulnerable in Scotland.
Polling commissioned by women’s policy think tank, The Other Half, found that seven in 10 Scots were concerned that victims of domestic abuse could feel pressured into ending their lives if assisted dying is legalised.
After eating disorder campaigners warned that people with eating disorders would be eligible for assisted suicide under the Bill, the think tank published polling that found that only one in five Scots would support legislation that allowed patients with anorexia to end their lives by assisted suicide.
Polling commissioned by disability advocacy group Not Dead Yet UK revealed that 69% of Scottish adults agreed that the Scottish Parliament should prioritise improving access to care for people with disabilities before an assisted suicide Bill would be introduced. Only 18% of Scots disagreed.
For respondents who had a disability, the percentage who agreed that access to care should be improved before an assisted suicide Bill is made law rose to 72%.
Dozens of major medical bodies and organisations came out against the Bill
Dozens of major medical bodies and organisations representing the most vulnerable in Scottish society have come out in opposition to the Bill.
This has included the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland, the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, the Association of Palliative Medicine, Social Work Scotland, the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers, the Scottish Association of Social Work, and the British Islamic Medical Association.
They have been joined by groups representing tens of thousands of people in Scotland including, a coalition of major disability groups, such as Inclusion Scotland, Disability Equality Scotland, Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living, Glasgow Disability Alliance, Our Duty of Care, People First, Self Directed Support Scotland, Disabled People Against Cuts, Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity, LegaCare, We Thrive and Down’s Syndrome Research Foundation, who have all come out in opposition to the Bill.
Renewed focus on palliative care
Having settled this debate, MSPs must now unite to focus on renewed efforts to promote and improve palliative care.
A large number of MSPs from across the political spectrum came together to give powerful speeches against the Bill during today’s debate. They made it clear that this dangerous and extreme change to our laws would have put the vulnerable at risk and seen the ending of many vulnerable lives through assisted suicide.
Tonight’s result represents a major headache for Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill in Westminster.
Back in October 2024, the Welsh Senedd also rejected the principle of assisted suicide.
Moreover, to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales when it has been rejected in Scotland, where the issue is devolved, would create constitutional and practical challenges.
Among the potential consequences are the uncertainty faced by Scottish students who spend half the year studying at universities in England, and the complications for residents who divide their time between a primary home in Scotland and a second property south of the border.
Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, Chief Executive of Right To Life UK, a charity that opposes the introduction of assisted suicide and euthanasia, and campaigns instead for greater investment in palliative care, said: “This is a great victory for the most vulnerable in our society.
“They deserve protection and care, not a pathway to suicide. If this legislation had passed, countless vulnerable people would have been pressured or coerced into ending their lives.
“A large number of MSPs from across the political spectrum came together today to recognise the dangers this Bill posed and have rightly rejected it.
“The question of assisted suicide has dominated the five-year term of the current Scottish Parliament. The issue is now settled for a generation.
“But as this debate ends, today marks the beginning of a new conversation. It is vital that after the Holyrood elections in May, MSPs come together to redouble their efforts to invest in universal access to high-quality palliative care.
“Holyrood has today sent a decisive message to Westminster by rejecting assisted suicide. The Westminster Bill is already on life support as Peers continue to address its multiple flaws and unanswered questions.
“Rather than ploughing on with their dangerous Bill, the Bill sponsors in Westminster must now follow Scotland’s example and accept that assisted suicide is not the answer. It cannot be introduced safely”.
