The Digester

MSPs are set to vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill that would allow eligible adults to request a self administered assisted death after a two step process and safeguards, subject to Westminster approval on drugs and employment protections.

Applicants must be 18 or older, be resident in Scotland for at least 12 months and be registered with a Scottish GP.
Applicants must be terminally ill and reasonably expected to die within six months.
Applicants must be judged to have mental capacity using a defined test that requires understanding, communication and memory of the decision.
The process starts with an initial declaration, two medical assessments, a minimum 14 day reflection period (can be shortened to 48 hours if death is imminent) and a second declaration.
If approved, an authorised clinician provides an approved substance that must be self administered, with details of the lethal drug and its use subject to UK government sign off.
Safeguards include private checks for coercion, a new offence of coercion, a proxy for those physically unable to sign, and criminal and civil liability exemptions for participating clinicians.
The law cannot take effect until Westminster establishes employment protections and approves the drugs, and the NHS has been given cost estimates that forecast rising but modest expenditure over time.

How Scotland's assisted dying bill would work

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