MSPs reject bill after concerted campaign to block it and despite amendments intended to placate critics
The Scottish parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying after critics and religious groups led a concerted campaign to block the measures.
MSPs voted 69 to 57 to reject the proposals in a late night vote on Tuesday – a larger margin than expected, despite a series of last-minute amendments designed to placate critics of the private member’s bill.
The bill’s defeat followed four days of intense debate at Holyrood last week about whether disabled and infirm people were properly protected from coercion. In May last year, Holyrood had voted to allow the bill to go forward for scrutiny by 70 votes to 56.
In the biggest concession, Liam McArthur, a Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP, agreed last week to limit access to people judged to have six months left to live, despite previously arguing that a time bar was too arbitrary, in an effort to placate wavering MSPs.
