Right to die movement pins hopes on disabled Parkinson's sufferer

Ross, who lives in a care home in the south side of Glasgow, is calling on the top prosecutor, the Lord Advocate, to issue guidance clarifying whether any person who helped him end his life would be charged with an offence.

Such guidelines have been published by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) in England but they do not apply in Scotland.

Earlier this week the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was thrown out after it was defeated by 82-36 votes in the Scottish Parliament.

Green MSP Patrick Harvie, who brought forward the bill, after its champion, Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, died last year, said the increase in support - the previous bid received just 16 votes in favour - meant there had been a "substantial step forward".

But he raised concerns over possible plans to submit similar legislation and said "alternative approaches" by studying other countries were needed.

Following the set-back, right to die campaigners are now throwing their weight behind Ross' legal bid.

A decision on the judicial review is expected in the next few weeks.

Ross suffers from several serious medical conditions including Parkinson's disease, and a loss of feeling in his arms and legs.

He was diagnosed with the degenerative disease a decade ago but has become significantly ill in the last two years.

His legal team has argued that the Lord Advocate's "failure" to produce guidelines is incompatible with the disabled man's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Ross, a former TV producer and humanist celebrant, said he is not suicidal but he wants to know what will happen if he decides he wants to take his own life in the future.

He would be unable to do it himself because of his deteriorating condition.

Ross, who has the support of his four children, said he watched someone with lung cancer die slowly and he did not want the same fate for himself.

"I don't want that. I just want to not wake up," he said.

"Right now I don't want to die. I had to at least live until the independence referendum to find out what happened, then it was the General Election.

"Now I want to find out what happens in Europe. My nose is too big.

"But if the time comes when I have no desire to eat, to live then I want to know how I can die and what will happen to the person who helps me."

Ross said he felt frustrated that assisted suicide laws were thrown out of Holyrood.

"The vote on Wednesday was not a vote for the bill, it was a vote to allow the bill to be debated, he said.

"It was a chance to argue it out.

"I think MSPs are so frightened that they'll lose their seats."

Harvie said the debate on assisted suicide was gathering momentum and would not disappear.

"There were people who voted against the bill who do agree with the basic proposition that some kind of change in the law is necessary and in time there has to be a revisiting of this question," he said.

"So even many of the people who voted no recognise there is a momentum.

"I think the issue will carry on being debated, not just here but lots of other countries are recognising that even when you reach a very high level of medical care, palliative care and as life spans extend you do come up against this recognition that for a certain number of people palliative care is not enough at the end of their lives.

"And there's a desire for them to take control.

"It's inherently complex, it always will be. I think the momentum is continuing to move in the direction of a greater respect for peoples' rights to make a decision."

Harvie believes the proposal failed because politicians were not "convinced by the detail of this specific Bill".

He said another way in was needed.

"Given the way the debate has gone over this bill and the previous bill I think it's clear there's more work we need to do in terms of looking at alternative approaches as well as dealing with the cultural expectations around whether people can support the basic principle," he said.

"I think simply drafting another bill in the short term, in the foreseeable future may not be the most successful way forward."

Harvie said there were a "range of models" out there and said the US state Oregon and counties including Switzerland and Belgium should be studied to look at different options.

He said: "I think it would be wrong to say we've got the answer, we've got a proposal but I don't think we should keep battering away at it until we get support.

"I think we should be willing to look at alternative approaches, I think that needs longer term reflective considerations of what the options might be and then maybe proposals which could emerge from that which haven't been thought of until now.

"It maybe needs to go back a step to have some simple basic consideration of what the options might be."

Harvie said he was unsure if a fresh bill would be heard in the next session of parliament between 2016 and 2021.

"If it seemed likely in the next term that the mood was going to change and that majority support would be achieved then it might be possible to do something during that session", he explained

"But I think if the balance of views haven't changed it wouldn't make any sense to go through that legislative process again just for the sake of doing it."

Amanda Ward, who advised Harvie and is a member of assisted suicide campaign group Friends At The End (FATE) said Holyrood "isn't ready for it yet".

However, she believes new proposals could be heard in the next session.

She said: "There's a lot of work going on in the background but by the time we come to presenting a new piece of legislation it will most likely be in the next parliamentary session - 2016 onwards but that's not to say there's not a lot of work going on in the background."

Ward said the fight by campaigners for the right to die was a human rights battle and that it had made huge progress in the last few years.

"It's (talking about death and the right to die) much less of a social stigma and the wider public are a lot more educated on it.

"You can ask people how often they have sex, what their salary is but if you asked someone before if they'd made plans for their funeral arrangements they wouldn't want to talk about it. Now it's different.

"What we've done here is something great.

"It's worth noting that public support is massively for this and if anything, we've encouraged wider discussion, and support for this Bill from politicians has more than doubled since the last time."

Retired GP Bob Scott, who is spokesman for the My Life My Death My Choice campaign, said it was "inevitable" that legislation would be successful.

"I don't think I've got rose tinted spectacles on when I'm looking at that issue," he said.

"Right across the civilised world, jurisdictions which bring them in are happy with it.

"It's rolling along. It's advancing; it's a recognition that this is an appropriate step to take subject to all the safeguarding. It will happen, I just don't know when."

Harvie said the immediate issue for campaigners to focus on was the case of Ross and the need for prosecution guidelines in Scotland.

"I think some degree of cross party political support for the need for greater clarity in the law would be very helpful," said Harvie.

"I know that there's a number of MSPs who would like to cooperate on that.

It shouldn't be seen as a party political issue. It's something that has supporters and opponents in most political parties so we'll see what the options are for continuing to add to the momentum for that issue to be addressed."

Scott, who is a close friend of Ross, said the grandad's nickname was "Braveheart".

Scott said: "Gordon has a variety of disorders including Parkinson's and a relatively uncommon severe untreatable additional nervous disorder where he's lost sensation in his hands and feet.

"It goes half way up his arms and legs. He cannot feel what he's doing with his arms. His hands are shaking sometimes very violently. It's exhausting for him.

"He is therefore unable to attend his needs, he can't clothe himself, wash himself, feed himself.

"He can just manage to squeeze a bottle as long as he looks at it."

Dr Gordon Macdonald, convener of Care Not Killing, the umbrella group spearheading the opposition campaign said assisted suicide legislation would never succeed.

He said: "It has been debated twice in less than five years and it has been overwhelmingly rejected.

"That's because when people really sat down and thought about all the arguments, and didn't just think about the emotional stories we've seen in the media they realised it's not safe."

A spokesman from the Crown Office said they would not make any comments at this stage on the judicial review lodged by Gordon Ross.