All posts tagged: MSPs

MSPs vote against bill to legalise assisted dying | UK News

MSPs vote against bill to legalise assisted dying | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

MSPs have voted against plans to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in Scotland. It comes after politicians debated hundreds of amendments during multiple marathon sessions as the proposed legislation made its way through Holyrood. The deciding Stage 3 debate and vote for the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill took place on Tuesday evening. Final results for the vote were 57 for, 69 against and one abstention. Health Secretary Neil Gray said he would abstain earlier in the day. Image: MSPs react after the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was voted down The result was earlier deemed too close to call, given MSPs were permitted a free vote instead of being “whipped” or instructed along party lines. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, who introduced the bill, previously said it would be the “toughest and most comprehensively safeguarded assisted dying bill in the world”. Sturgeon and Sarwar voted against bill Speaking to Sky’s Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said that he did not vote in …

MSPs to vote on assisted dying bill for terminally ill adults in Scotland | UK News

MSPs to vote on assisted dying bill for terminally ill adults in Scotland | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

MSPs will vote later today on whether to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in Scotland. Hundreds of amendments have been debated during multiple marathon sessions as the proposed legislation has made its way through the Scottish parliament. If passed, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would allow those aged 18 or older with decision-making capacity and six months or less to live to seek medical help to end their life. The final vote is expected to take place at about 10pm. Image: A doctor protesting against the bill at Holyrood last year. Pic: PA Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, who put forward the bill, will meet with supporters outside Holyrood this morning. He said MSPs had the chance to deliver “a robust and well safeguarded law that would give terminally ill Scots with mental capacity the choice of an assisted death if they wanted one”. Mr McArthur said the bill has the “overwhelming support of a significant majority of Scots regardless of religious affiliation, political party or disability status”. “MSPs …

MSPs: amend RO bill to include independent right of withdrawal

MSPs: amend RO bill to include independent right of withdrawal

Published by Sam Flores

A Scottish Government bill that would make it harder for parents to withdraw children from religious observance (RO) has passed its first legislative stage. Speaking during the Stage 1 debate, MSPs called for the bill to be amended to include an independent right of withdrawal for children. Amendments can be introduced at Stage 2. Under the Education Act (Scotland) 1980, parents can withdraw their children from RO and religious education (RE) or religious and moral education (RME). The bill would amend the Act to allow children to override a parent’s decision to withdraw them from RO/RE/RME. However, it would not include a corresponding independent right for the child to withdraw from RO/RE/RME against parental wishes. The National Secular Society has criticised the Scottish Government’s approach as “asymmetrical” and said it would create a “distorted hierarchy of child rights”. In written and oral evidence, the NSS called for laws mandating RO to be repealed. Failing that, an independent right of withdrawal for children should be introduced. MSP: Bill is “disappointing in many ways” MSPs from across …