Scotland's assisted dying bill rejected after emotional debate

MSPs have rejected the chance to make Scotland the first part of the UK to legalise assisted dying.

The proposals, tabled by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, would have allowed terminally-ill, mentally competent adults to seek medical help to end their lives.

Following an emotionally-charged final debate, the bill was defeated by 69 votes to 57.

Opponents raised several concerns about the bill - particularly fears of people being pressured into an assisted death.

McArthur accused those who rejected the bill of a "woefully inadequate response to the suffering and trauma experienced by dying Scots and their families".

To get to that point, they would have to make two declarations affirming their wishes, as well as passing checks from doctors to see if they had been coerced or influenced.

A bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales is being considered at Westminster, though it appears unlikely to pass before the end of the parliamentary term.

McArthur made several changes to the bill in a bid to win over swithering MSPs.

This included limiting eligibility to those with less than six months to live, despite the MSP earlier arguing against such a move.

But ultimately his efforts were in vain.

Again and again during the final debate, the word that passed the lips of opponents to the bill was "coercion".

Independent MSP Jeremy Balfour - born with no left arm and a right arm that ends at the elbow - said disabled people were "terrified" of assisted dying legislation.

He warned the bill would open "a pandora's box" and said there could be "no meaningful protection" against coercion.

"I'm begging you to consider the consequences for the most vulnerable," Balfour said.

Labour's Pam Duncan-Glancy, who uses a wheelchair, urged MSPs to "choose to make it easier to live than to die".

Others raised questions about protections for medics who did not want to participate in assisted dying, and a lack of oversight on doctors who would sign off on the process.

Critics also argued the focus should be on improving palliative care.

The SNP's Ruth Maguire, while also citing concerns about the cost of the proposals, said: "It's not a free choice if you do not have access to good palliative care."

"My blood runs cold thinking about sitting in a room in hospital and having a doctor raise [assisted dying] with me as we weigh up treatment options," she told parliament.

Yet there were also several powerful contributions from supporters of the bill.

McArthur cited the case of one man who was left "begging to have his life ended" after his penis was removed due to cancer.

Throughout the debate, the LibDem MSP was praised for his constructive, measured approach.

But breaking from his typically conciliatory tone, he told MSPs that it was "not good enough" to support the general principles of the bill only to oppose it at stage three.

He said: "As a growing number of countries and states around the world, including Jersey and the Isle of Man, are proving that is another way we can must do better.

"This is the time. This is the bill. This is the change that dying Scott desperately need us to take.

"I implore MSPs to have the courage of your convictions."

Former Green co-leader Lorna Slater, who has previously spoken of her father's "beautiful" assisted death in Canada, fought back tears as she recounted his last moments.

"We should all have the right to choose," she told MSPs.

The SNP's George Adam spoke about his wife Stacey, who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and was watching on from the gallery.

He told parliament: "If the worst should ever come to her, if she was ever facing that unbearable suffering at the end of life, she would want a choice."

Conservative MSP Sandesh Gulhane, an NHS GP, cited testimony from a patient who told him "you would let a dog die like this", calling for action to stop people ending their lives "alone, scared, in agonising pain".

Supporters of the bill argued MSPs were not facing a binary choice between better palliative care and assisted dying, with Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton insisting the legislation would provide a "powerful matrix of safety".

McArthur's assisted dying bill was the third to have come before the Scottish Parliament since devolution in 1999, but the first to make it past a stage one vote.

MSPs were granted a free vote on the proposals, meaning they were not whipped to vote along party lines.

While the government was neutral on assisted dying, First Minister John Swinney opposed it.

Speaking after the debate, the SNP leader told reporters he was "relieved".

The bill came through the stage one vote, on its general principles, by a relatively comfortable margin of 14 votes.

Yet passing a final vote was always likely to be a tall order, with several parliamentarians backing the bill at stage one not because they supported the law, but because they thought it was an issue that ought to be debated in-depth.

And so it proved to be, with MSPs debating the bill over five sessions, including a rare Friday sitting at Holyrood.

That all culminated in a landmark moment in the history of the Scottish Parliament, with MSPs voting decisively against assisted dying after 12 MSPs who backed the bill at stage one voted against it at stage three.

Speaking after the vote, Liam McArthur told reporters he was "devastated" and warned some MSPs may have regrets.

He added that was issue was not "going away".

Ally Thompson of Dignity in Dying said she was "hugely disappointed".

She told BBC Scotland News: "Tonight dying people across Scotland have been dealt a huge blow. The vote was against safety and against compassion."

But Dr Gordon Macdonald, CEO of Care Not Killing, expressed relief.

"We believe the bill posed serious risks to the most vulnerable in society - including disabled people and those suffering from domestic abuse," he added.

How did your MSP vote on assisted dying?

George Adam (Paisley) (SNP); Karen Adam (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP); Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South) (SNP); Colin Beattie (Midlothian North and Musselburgh) (SNP); Siobhian Brown (Ayr) (SNP); Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) (Green); Alexander Burnett (Aberdeenshire West) (Con); Stephanie Callaghan (Uddingston and Bellshill) (SNP); Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con); Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green); Katy Clark (West Scotland) (Lab); Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP); Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD); Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP); Natalie Don-Innes (Renfrewshire North and West) (SNP); James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP); Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP); Jim Fairlie (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) (SNP); Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee City West) (SNP); Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP); Jenny Gilruth (Mid Fife and Glenrothes) (SNP); Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP); Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (LD); Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green); Sandesh Gulhane (Glasgow) (Con); Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con); Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP); Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green); Fiona Hyslop (Linlithgow) (SNP); Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con); Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP); Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Lab); Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP); Douglas Lumsden (North East Scotland) (Con); Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP); Gillian Mackay (Central Scotland) (Green); Mackay, Rona (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP); Ben Macpherson (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (SNP); Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP); Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD); Ivan McKee (Glasgow Provan) (SNP; Paul McLennan (East Lothian) (SNP); Jenni Minto (Argyll and Bute) (SNP); Carol Mochan (South Scotland) (Lab); Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD); Robertson, Angus (Edinburgh Central) (SNP); Shona Robison (Dundee City East) (SNP); Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green); Lorna Slater (Lothian) (Green); Shirley-Anne Somerville (Dunfermline) (SNP); Kaukab Stewart (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP); Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP); Michelle Thomson (Falkirk East) (SNP); Maree Todd (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP); David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP); Evelyn Tweed (Stirling) (SNP); Elena Whitham (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP)

Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP); Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP); Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab); Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab); Jeremy Balfour Lothian) (Ind); Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab); Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab); Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con); Keith Brown (Clackmannanshire and Dunblane) (SNP); Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con); Foysol Choudhury (Lothian) (Ind); Angela Constance(Almond Valley) (SNP); Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP); Sharon Dowey (South Scotland) (Con); Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) (Ind); Tim Eagle (Highlands and Islands) (Con); Annabelle Ewing (Cowdenbeath) (SNP); Fergus Ewing (Inverness and Nairn) (Ind); Russell Findlay (West Scotland) (Con); Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP); Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con); Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con); Maurice Golden (North East Scotland) (Con); Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con); Mairi Gougeon (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP); Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab); Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab); Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con); Clare Haughey (Rutherglen) (SNP); Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP); Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Con); Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab); Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con); Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab); Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP); Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP); Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab); John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (Ind); Michael Matheson (Falkirk West) (SNP); Màiri McAllan (Clydesdale) (SNP); Roz McCall (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con); Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP); Marie McNair (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP); Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab); Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con); Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Con); Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP); Paul O'Kane (West Scotland) (Lab); Ash Regan (Edinburgh Eastern) (Ind); Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands) (SNP); Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con); Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab); Davy Russell (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (Lab); Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab); Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Reform); Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con); Collette Stevenson (East Kilbride) (SNP); Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con); Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow Southside) (SNP); Paul Sweeney (Glasgow) (Lab); John Swinney (Perthshire North) (SNP); Mercedes Villalba (North East Scotland) (Lab); Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con); Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con); Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con); Martin Whitfield (South Scotland) (Lab); Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con); Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD); Humza Yousaf (Glasgow Pollok) (SNP)

Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP) - proxy vote cast by Graeme Dey