Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2026 [Draft]
10 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Martin Whitfield gets to the heart of why I am concerned about these amendments. I fundamentally believe that they have been drafted with good intentions and I can see what Daniel Johnson is trying to do. However, an individual’s subjective view of tolerability and suffering can change at any time, and so too can someone else’s view about that person. It would be a difficult objective test to have in law, which is why the amendments in this group will not give the safeguards that I think that Daniel Johnson is seeking, nor will they provide the safeguards that are required make the bill less of a risk.
We know that disabled people’s quality of life—and sometimes that of people at the end of life and people who have lost function, too—is often viewed by others as being lower than they would rate it themselves. We cannot, therefore, rely on those views as an objective measure when considering the bill or, indeed, considering whether assisted dying is safe. It is the subjectivity of quality of life, and all that comes with it, that makes the well‑meaning amendments in the group impossible safeguards.
I ask members to think carefully and recognise that, although the additions appear to offer extra protections, they are fraught with difficulty and would still leave many people at risk.
In the same item of business
14:27
The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone)
NPA
The next item of business is stage 3 of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.In dealing with the amendments, members should have the ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Group 1 is on the meaning of “terminal illness”. Amendment 136, in the name of Daniel Johnson, is grouped with amendment 1. I call Daniel Johnson to speak to...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is with a great deal of trepidation that I rise to speak to and move the first amendment.I begin by paying tribute to Liam M...
Martin Whitfield (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I have great interest in Daniel Johnson’s amendment, for the reasons that he has already set out, but does he share my concern that we would end up with a su...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
I am happy to deal with that point. I actually disagree with it, because I believe that we must be frank about the fact that all the decisions and judgments ...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
I wonder whether Daniel Johnson can tell us a little bit more about his reasoning for choosing the following form of words in amendment 1:“that treatment tha...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
The member makes a fair point, but I would also argue that, without that, if there is the possibility of a treatment that would improve the person’s conditio...
Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP)
SNP
I think that we would all be drawn to the notion of making intolerable suffering part of the criteria—certainly, I am drawn to that—but we are doing more tha...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
I would simply draw on the legislation in the two jurisdictions that I mentioned for comparison, both of which have similar or comparable forms of wording. I...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
I thank Daniel Johnson for lodging the two amendments in this group.I rise to speak with serious concern about the bill, in particular with regard to its imp...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I am grateful to Jeremy Balfour for taking my intervention. We had some of these exchanges at stage 2, but I wonder whether he would reflect on the evidence ...
Jeremy Balfour
Ind
I have to say that that is not the evidence that the disability community has presented to me, and it is not the evidence that is coming loud and clear from ...
Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) (Ind)
Ind
I thank the member in charge of the bill for the way in which he has taken it through Parliament, and I thank other members for the way in which they have en...
Martin Whitfield
Lab
From a personal point of view, these amendments are swings and roundabouts. Having listened to Pam Duncan-Glancy’s powerful speech, my question to her is thi...
Pam Duncan-Glancy
Ind
Martin Whitfield gets to the heart of why I am concerned about these amendments. I fundamentally believe that they have been drafted with good intentions and...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
I listened carefully to Daniel Johnson when he spoke to his amendments. There is concern that they expand rather than restrict the definition of those who wo...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Neil Gray)
SNP
I would like to set out to Parliament the Scottish Government’s position on stage 3 of Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bi...
Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green)
Green
In the letter from UK ministers to the Westminster Scottish Affairs Committee, the phrases “training, qualifications and experience” and “qualifications and ...
Neil Gray
SNP
I appreciate the intervention from Ross Greer. At this stage, I can say only that provisions in the bill may, or could, be outwith the competence of this Par...
Jamie Hepburn
SNP
On the issue of the section 104 order, we have had sight of the letter that went to the Scottish Affairs Committee, which I note was not sent to MSPs directl...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Before the cabinet secretary responds, I remind members that we will come on to these issues, and it is very important that we continue to focus on the issue...
Neil Gray
SNP
Of course, Presiding Officer. The issue that Mr Hepburn raises is important, because I know that MSPs are concerned about the elements that are to go through...
Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the use of a section 104 order means that part of the bill will be subject to secondary legislation?
Neil Gray
SNP
How the section 104 process is to be delivered depends on the vehicle that is decided on. That could potentially be through secondary legislation, but it cou...
Liam McArthur
LD
I start by echoing Pam Duncan-Glancy’s comments about the way in which colleagues across the board, irrespective of their position on the bill, have engaged ...
Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I ask the member to reflect on the evidence from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, which has talked about the subjectivity of diagnosi...
Liam McArthur
LD
The assumption that the fact that somebody is going through the process after having made a request means that they would then inevitably and automatically s...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate. We all face a fundamental conundrum. We are being asked to ponder legislation in which the key definition...
Liam McArthur
LD
Will the member give way?