Call for views over assisted suicide Bill

A COMMITTEE of MSPs set up to look at Margo MacDonald's Bill on assisted dying is to ask for public comments on the proposals.

The committee held its first meeting yesterday and appointed former Liberal Democrat minister Ross Finnie as convener and Lothians SNP MSP and former Wester Hailes GP Ian McKee as deputy convener.

The End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill proposes that people with a terminal illness or degenerative condition should be able to ask for help in dying if they feel life has become intolerable.

Mr Finnie said: "Following our committee's first meeting, our next step will be to issue a call for written evidence to all interested parties. This will enable us to gain as much information as possible before calling witnesses to give oral evidence."

Critics of the Bill have said claims that only around 50 Scots a year would make use of the proposed law to end their lives are wrong, with figures from the US state of Oregon, where physician assisted-suicide is legal, suggesting that Scotland could expect at least 80 deaths per year.

The call for written evidence will be issued later this week, with ten weeks for responses. The committee is expected to start taking oral evidence in September.