A terminally ill Ayrshire grandmother hopes an assisted dying bill is passed in time for her to choose her own death.
Norma Rivers, 70, who lives in Ayr, has told of her delight after a major milestone was passed this week in the fight to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.
MSP Liam McArthur has won the right to introduce the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament.
McArthur, a Liberal Democrat for Orkney, saw his latest push to introduce the bill receive overwhelming backing, with 36 MSPs voting in favour of bringing in new laws – more than a quarter of members.
The bill would see Scotland become the first the country in the UK to legalise the right to end one’s life.
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Gran-of-three Norma previously told Ayrshire Live how she is desperate to able to choose how and when she dies.
The former bank worker originally from Edinburgh is continuing her fight against rare blood cancer myeloma which she fears will end in a painful death.
She is reaching the end of the last treatment on available to her.
She told Ayrshire Live : “It is fabulous news.
“It might not be passed in time for me, but I, as well as many in my position would love to have the choice.
“Having no choice can force people into things they don’t want to do.
“Right now my choice would be to live as long as possible, but I am running out of treatment options.
“I’m taking chemotherapy tablets but once my body starts to reject it, I’ll have to be taken off them and there is nothing else they would be able to do for me.
“I would be absolutely delight if this bill is passed before then. It would be my dying wish and an early Christmas present.”
The new bill would work on the basis that two doctors would have to approve that a person is terminally ill, establish that the person has the mental capacity to request assisted dying and assess that the person is able to make the decision without pressure of coercion.
Medics will also need to make the person aware of other options, including palliative end of life care.
MSP McArthur said: “The Scottish public has long been ahead of the parliament on this issue. The public consultation on these proposals, published last month, demonstrated that there is strong and passionate support for offering people more choice at the end of their life.
“I now look forward to working with colleagues in parliament to bring forward a safe, robust, and compassionate bill.”
Campaign group Dignity in Dying Scotland said they will ensure dying Scots and their loved ones are at the heart of discussions surrounding the bill.
Ally Thomson, director of Dignity in Dying Scotland added: “I am delighted that Liam McArthur MSP’s bill to allow dying people in Scotland the choice of an assisted death has passed this milestone and will now move forward in the Scottish Parliament.
“It is a choice that the eleven Scots a week who face a bad death so desperately need. It is a change in the law that the majority of the Scottish people support."
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