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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
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| Assisted suicide law change bid | Assisted suicide law change bid |
| (19 minutes later) | |
| A campaign to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland has been launched by Independent MSP Margo MacDonald. | |
| The Lothian MSP, who has Parkinson's Disease, hopes to bring legislation before the parliament next year. | The Lothian MSP, who has Parkinson's Disease, hopes to bring legislation before the parliament next year. |
| She is sending out a consultation paper and needs the support of at least 18 MSPs at Holyrood. | She is sending out a consultation paper and needs the support of at least 18 MSPs at Holyrood. |
| Mrs MacDonald, 65, said people should have the right to choose the time and place of their death and she called for a debate on the issue. | Mrs MacDonald, 65, said people should have the right to choose the time and place of their death and she called for a debate on the issue. |
| Her proposals would incorporate the patient's right to choose to end his or her life, with assistance, into the principles of palliative care. | Her proposals would incorporate the patient's right to choose to end his or her life, with assistance, into the principles of palliative care. |
| Speaking ahead of the launch, Mrs MacDonald said: "I'm doing this, not has an individual who suffers from a degenerative condition. | |
| "I am doing this as a legislator, a law maker, who has the privilege of being able to represent people and make things the way people would like things to be. | "I am doing this as a legislator, a law maker, who has the privilege of being able to represent people and make things the way people would like things to be. |
| "I am absolutely convinced from my postbag that people do want, at the very least, to have a debate on this area of life. | "I am absolutely convinced from my postbag that people do want, at the very least, to have a debate on this area of life. |
| "Dying is part of life. It is just the end part." | "Dying is part of life. It is just the end part." |
| The Independent MSP has Parkinson's Disease | The Independent MSP has Parkinson's Disease |
| However, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said previously that she was "not persuaded" the law should be changed to make assisted suicide legal. | However, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said previously that she was "not persuaded" the law should be changed to make assisted suicide legal. |
| Ms Sturgeon said that she was not sure sufficient safeguards could be put in place to prevent the system from being abused. | Ms Sturgeon said that she was not sure sufficient safeguards could be put in place to prevent the system from being abused. |
| Mrs Macdonald said her proposed system would be "physician-assisted" suicide. | Mrs Macdonald said her proposed system would be "physician-assisted" suicide. |
| Dr George Fearnie, from the British Medical Association in Scotland, said he had "enormous sympathy" for terminally ill patients but he said that assisting with suicide was not a role he wanted physicians to take on. | Dr George Fearnie, from the British Medical Association in Scotland, said he had "enormous sympathy" for terminally ill patients but he said that assisting with suicide was not a role he wanted physicians to take on. |
| He said: "We are a caring profession - what we don't want is people not to be reassured that the profession are there doing their best for them - to worry about the motives of that doctor. | He said: "We are a caring profession - what we don't want is people not to be reassured that the profession are there doing their best for them - to worry about the motives of that doctor. |
| MSP Margo MacDonald's March 2008 statement to the Scottish Parliament | MSP Margo MacDonald's March 2008 statement to the Scottish Parliament |
| "People who have a debilitating illness which might end their lives are extremely vulnerable and our worry is that they're going to contemplate ending their lives when that really isn't their wish. | "People who have a debilitating illness which might end their lives are extremely vulnerable and our worry is that they're going to contemplate ending their lives when that really isn't their wish. |
| "I've never shirked my duty of administering pain relieving medication even if that hastens the death of someone - what is being asked here is something rather beyond that and I don't believe society wants us to assume that position." | "I've never shirked my duty of administering pain relieving medication even if that hastens the death of someone - what is being asked here is something rather beyond that and I don't believe society wants us to assume that position." |
| The leader of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, said it was not up to us to decide when we die. | The leader of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, said it was not up to us to decide when we die. |
| He said: "Life is a gift from Almighty God, given us through Almighty God through the cooperation of our parents. | He said: "Life is a gift from Almighty God, given us through Almighty God through the cooperation of our parents. |
| "If God gives us that gift, He can take that from us but we're not taking it from Him and as it were saying, 'well God, I'm finished with life because I can't cope with cancer or Parkinson's or whatever it has to be'. We just wait on God calling us to himself." | "If God gives us that gift, He can take that from us but we're not taking it from Him and as it were saying, 'well God, I'm finished with life because I can't cope with cancer or Parkinson's or whatever it has to be'. We just wait on God calling us to himself." |