Margo MacDonald has secured sufficient cross-party support to introduce her Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill (lodged 18 September 2012)
“to enable a competent adult with a terminal illness or condition to request assistance to end their own life, and to decriminalise certain actions taken by others to provide such assistance”.
Under the Parliament’s rules, an MSP seeking to introduce a Member’s Bill must first lodge a draft proposal together with a consultation document (or a statement of reasons why consultation is not considered necessary). Subsequently, the member may lodge a final proposal, in broadly similar terms to the draft, accompanied by a summary of consultation responses (or the statement of reasons). The member secures the right to introduce a Bill to give effect to the proposal if the final proposal secures, within one month, the support of at least 18 other members from at least half the political parties or groups represented in the Parliamentary Bureau, and provided no indication is given that the Scottish Government or UK Government is planning equivalent legislation.
Ms MacDonald’s Bill is accompanied by a summary of consultation responses and is supported by Jim Eadie, Chic Brodie, Alison Johnstone, Jamie McGrigor, Richard Lyle, Christine Grahame, Patrick Harvie, Liam McArthur, Fiona McLeod, John Park, Marco Biagi, Bill Kidd, Roderick Campbell, Kezia Dugdale, Sandra White, George Adam, Mark McDonald and Jamie Hepburn.
Her previous End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill was defeated at Stage 1 in December 2010.
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