Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2026 [Draft]
I start by recognising the hard work of Liam McArthur and everyone on his team, as well as the high quality of debate, which other members have acknowledged. Members on both sides of the principles that the bill raises have engaged constructively and respectfully, and I am convinced that the result is a bill that is stronger, thanks to the scrutiny of the Parliament.
I know that some members’ opposition to the bill is very strong. For some, that would not have changed, regardless of the detail. I respect that position, but I must take the opportunity today to speak primarily to those who have concerns but who are open to the principle—those who accept the case for a change in the law but who need to know that the system that we are creating would be safe, compassionate and robust.
I ask members to consider two key points as they reach their final decision. The first is that this is not a choice between the bill and some ideal status quo. In today’s Scotland, far too many of those who reach the end of their lives in the most difficult of circumstances experience fear, unbearable suffering, a desperate desire to have control of what is happening to them and, indeed, pressure or coercion in different forms to make choices that they would not make freely. Even with the very best palliative care, which is something that we all support, that is still the case. The bill is not an alternative to something benign. It is an alternative to a status quo that we should consider unacceptable and unsafe, and which too many people face not only without choice but without the protections that the bill contains.
Secondly, I ask members to reflect on the very fact that our debate has heard about the different principles and values on which we base our choice as legislators, as well as the different values that inform the views of our constituents on both sides of the debate. The different values that we bring to the debate reflect the different values by which we live our own lives and which inform every choice that we make, including as we look ahead to the uncomfortable truth that we will all, each of us, one day, face the end of our own lives.
The fact of the different values by which we live is, for me, the central reason why we must respect the right of people to make choices on their own terms, including choices that we might never make for ourselves—even choices of which we might disapprove. That is at the heart of what it means to be a creature that is capable of choosing.
I know that there have been legitimate and valid concerns about getting the detail right in the bill. I believe that the work that Liam McArthur has done and the amendments that the Parliament has made give us the chance to allow choice, with meaningful protection for those who need it. The bill would give Scotland the most safeguarded assisted dying system in the world. Working in tandem with palliative care—never against it—it would have support and advocacy at its heart.