How could assisted dying laws change across the UK?

MSPs successful Scotland volition statement and ballot connected plans to legalise assisted dying aboriginal connected Tuesday.

It comes days earlier MPs successful Westminster person different accidental to see a abstracted measure which would legalise assisted dying successful England and Wales.

A bulk of MPs backed the measure successful November 2024, aft which a cross-party committee considered the authorities successful detail.

The assisted dying measure being considered successful the Scottish Parliament says that eligible applicants would person to:

• be nonmigratory successful Scotland for astatine slightest 12 months
• be registered with a GP successful Scotland
• be terminally ill
• have the intelligence capableness to marque the request

Earlier successful May Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, who drafted the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, said he volition rise the minimum property successful the projected authorities from 16 to 18.

The "stage 1 vote" connected Tuesday is connected the wide principles of the bill. It is simply a escaped ballot which means MSPs volition not beryllium told however to ballot by their parties oregon the government.

If determination are much "yes" votes than "noes", the measure volition advancement to signifier two, wherever MSPs tin suggest changes.

Another ballot connected the last draught of the measure would beryllium held earlier it could go law.

If MSPs bash not backmost the measure astatine signifier one, it volition fall.

First Minister John Swinney and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes person said they volition not enactment the bill, arsenic person erstwhile archetypal ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf and existent Scottish Labour person Anas Sarwar.

Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy - the archetypal imperishable wheelchair idiosyncratic to beryllium elected to Holyrood - is besides opposed.

Supporters see Scottish Lib Dem person Alex Cole-Hamilton, ex-Conservative person Jackson Carlaw and Scottish Greens co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie.

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray, who volition talk for the authorities during the debate, said helium would abstain from the vote.

• MSPs to ballot connected assisted dying successful Scotland
• Could assisted dying beryllium coming to Scotland?

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was introduced by backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

It proposes giving terminally sick radical the close to take to extremity their beingness if they:

• are implicit 18 and unrecorded successful England and Wales, and person been registered with a GP for astatine slightest 12 months
• have the intelligence capableness to marque the prime and beryllium deemed to person expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, escaped from coercion oregon pressure
• be expected to dice wrong six months
• make 2 abstracted declarations, witnessed and signed, astir their privation to die
• satisfy 2 autarkic doctors that they are eligible - with astatine slightest 7 days betwixt each assessment

Once a patient's exertion has been approved, they would person to hold 14 days earlier proceeding.

A doc would hole the substance being utilized to extremity the patient's life, but the idiosyncratic would instrumentality it themselves.

The measure defines the co-ordinating doc arsenic a registered aesculapian practitioner with "training, qualifications and experience" astatine a level to beryllium specified by the wellness secretary. It does not accidental which cause would beryllium used.

It would beryllium amerciable to usage dishonesty, pressure, oregon to coerce idiosyncratic into declaring they privation to extremity their life, with a imaginable 14-year situation sentence.

• 'Northern Ireland is being near down connected assisted dying'

Many months of enactment inactive prevarication up successful the Commons and the Lords.

It is inactive imaginable that the measure could autumn and not go instrumentality astatine all.

The measure returns to the House of Commons connected Friday 16 May, erstwhile each MPs volition person the accidental to statement and ballot connected the changes projected by the committee.

There would past beryllium further scrutiny successful the Commons and the Lords, and much voting.

Leadbeater projected doubling the maximum play earlier immoderate caller instrumentality would beryllium implemented to let much clip to acceptable up grooming and systems for what would beryllium an wholly caller service.

If everything was acceptable much quickly, assisted dying could beryllium successful spot up of the deadline, but the BBC understands that immoderate ministers person expressed interest astir the imaginable delay.

The historical ballot saw 330 MPs enactment the assisted dying bill, and 275 cull it.

MPs were fixed a escaped vote, meaning they could marque their ain determination alternatively than travel enactment instructions.

The authorities did not enactment oregon reason the bill.

Opponents pass that radical could beryllium enactment nether unit to extremity their lives and privation improvements to palliative attraction instead.

Paralympian and House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Grey-Thompson is simply a vocal critic.

She told the BBC she is disquieted astir "the interaction connected susceptible people, connected disabled people, [the hazard of] coercive control, and the quality of doctors to marque a six-month diagnosis".

Leadbeater argues the instrumentality needs changing due to the fact that immoderate radical "have a horrible, harrowing death", nevertheless bully their end-of-life oregon palliative attraction is.

Cancer diligent Nathaniel Dye worked connected the measure with Leadbeater. He said it would let radical a decease which was "as benignant and compassionate arsenic possible".

The Dignity successful Dying run radical said the measure provides the "most detailed, robust proposals" connected the contented that "Westminster has ever considered".

According to main enforcement Sarah Wootton, the information that each twelvemonth "up to 650 terminally sick radical extremity their ain lives, often successful lonely and traumatic ways," shows that the presumption quo is not working.

There is some statement implicit precisely what the presumption mean.

However, assisted dying mostly refers to a idiosyncratic who is terminally sick receiving lethal drugs from a aesculapian practitioner, which they administer themselves.

Assisted suicide is intentionally helping different idiosyncratic to extremity their life, including idiosyncratic who is not terminally ill. That could impact providing lethal medicine oregon helping them question to different jurisdiction to die.

Euthanasia is the enactment of deliberately ending a person's beingness to relieve suffering successful which a lethal cause is administered by a physician. Patients whitethorn not beryllium terminally ill.

There are 2 types: voluntary euthanasia, wherever a diligent consents; and non-voluntary, wherever they cannot because, for example, they are successful a coma.

The Dignity successful Dying run radical says more than 200 cardinal radical astir the satellite person ineligible entree to assisted dying.

Switzerland has allowed assisted termination since 1942. Its Dignitas installation accepts overseas patients arsenic good arsenic Swiss nationals, and betwixt 1998 and 2023 it helped 571 Britons to die.

Assisted termination is besides ineligible successful Austria.

In the US, 10 states - Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Hawaii, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine and Washington DC - let "physician-assisted dying". It permits doctors to prescribe lethal drugs for self-administration.

Voluntary euthanasia is ineligible successful Canada, wherever it is called aesculapian assistance successful dying. It tin beryllium provided by a doc oregon caregiver practitioner, either successful idiosyncratic oregon done the medicine of drugs for self-administration. Medically assisted dying accounted for 4.7% of deaths successful Canada successful 2023.

It is besides ineligible successful Spain and Colombia, some of which besides licence assisted suicide.

Assisted dying is ineligible successful immoderate parts of Australia, but the instrumentality differs crossed states.

New Zealand's End of Life Choice Act legalises assisted dying and allows adults successful their last months of beingness to petition assistance from a aesculapian professional.

Three countries person laws that let radical who are not terminally sick to person assistance to die: The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

• How does assisted dying enactment successful different countries?