Editing Assisted suicide (section)

====Scotland====
Unlike the other jurisdictions in the United Kingdom, suicide was not illegal in Scotland before 1961 (and still is not) thus no associated offences were created in imitation. Depending on the actual nature of any assistance given to a suicide, the offences of murder or [[culpable homicide]] might be committed or there might be no offence at all; the nearest modern prosecutions bearing comparison might be those where a culpable homicide conviction has been obtained when drug addicts have died unintentionally after being given "hands on" non-medical assistance with an injection. Modern law regarding the assistance of someone who intends to die has a lack of certainty as well as a lack of relevant case law; this has led to attempts to introduce statutes providing more certainty.

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald's "End of Life Assistance Bill" was brought before the Scottish Parliament to permit physician-assisted suicide in January 2010. The [[Catholic]] Church and the [[Church of Scotland]], the largest denomination in Scotland, opposed the bill. The bill was rejected by a vote of 85–16 (with 2 abstentions) in December 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/38-EndLifeAssist/index.htm |title=End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill 38) |date=21 January 2010 |publisher=The Scottish Parliament |access-date=12 June 2011 |archive-date=10 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810060725/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/38-EndLifeAssist/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11876821 |title=Margo MacDonald's End of Life Assistance Bill rejected |newspaper=[[BBC News Online]] |date=1 December 2010 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233700/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11876821 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{anchor|ASSB}} The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 13 November 2013 by the late [[Margo MacDonald]] MSP and was taken up by [[Patrick Harvie]] MSP on Ms MacDonald's death. The Bill entered the main committee scrutiny stage in January 2015 and reached a vote in Parliament several months later; however the bill was again rejected.{{citation needed|date= November 2024}}

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced by [[Liam McArthur]] MSP on 27 March 2024. It would allow terminally adults to request and receive assistance from medical professionals to end their life.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/s6/assisted-dying-for-terminally-ill-adults-scotland-bill |title=Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill |date=2024 |publisher=The Scottish Parliament |access-date=4 December 2024 }}</ref>