Dozens of Scots have travelled to Switzerland for an assisted death because current legislation prevents the end-of-life option in Scotland, according to a charity which campaigns for a change in the law.
Friends at the End said it is aware of at least 25 Scots who have made the trip to Swiss clinics.
Unlike other nations with assisted dying laws, Switzerland allows foreign nationals to pay for the service.
The charity's convener, Emma Cooper, said many more terminally ill Scots have been too ill or lacked the financial means to travel to Switzerland, where an assisted death costs around £10,000.
As a result, she said dozens of terminally ill Scots instead choose to die alone by suicide each year and many attempt failed suicides, causing deep distress to them and loved ones.
READ MORE: Glasgow man backs right-to-die law after father's cancer ordeal
The figures come after the decision by Cypriot authorities to free British pensioner David Hunter who helped his terminally ill wife Janice to die.
Ms Cooper is due to discuss the ethics of assisted dying at an Edinburgh Fringe event today.
The Scottish charity supports MSP Liam McArthur’s Scottish Parliament member’s bill to enable mentally competent adults who are terminally ill to be provided at their request with help to end their life.
If MSPs support the bill, expected to be published later this year, Scots could not opt for assisted dying for any other reason and safeguards would include independent assessment by two doctors and a cooling off period.
The debate around assisted dying has intensified in recent days, following the case of retired British miner David Hunter who was freed on July 31.
In July, the 76-year-old was sentenced in Cyprus to two years in prison for manslaughter after helping his terminally ill wife, Janice, to die. He said his wife of 52 years, who had blood cancer, had begged him to end her life.
READ MORE: MS patient in assisted suicide case 'not fit' to travel
Friends at The End said that correspondence with Swiss organisations Dignitas and Life Circle has confirmed that at least 25 Scots have so far travelled to Switzerland for an assisted death, a number expected to rise unless Scotland’s law changes.
Ms Cooper said: "By legalising assisted dying, we can put the proper safeguards and monitoring in place to protect people and their loved ones.
"Here in Scotland, we're proposing a reasonable, considered approach to legislation that is both common sense and compassionate.
"Along with the majority of Scots, I believe it is absolutely reasonable to allow terminally-ill, competent adults a pathway to ending their suffering legally and here at home - not isolated, away from their own country, and in fear of loved ones facing prosecution.”
The charity is optimistic that Liam McArthur’s bill will be backed by a majority at Holyrood. Three quarters of respondents to a consultation backed his plans.
Polling by Panelbase has indicated that about 70% of people in Scotland support a change in the law to allow assisted dying, which is already an option for more than 200 million people in countries including Spain, New Zealand, Australia and parts of the United States.
The most recent attempt to change the law in Scotland was rejected by MSPs in a free vote, by 82 to 36, in 2015.
READ MORE: Assisted dying proposal 'poses risk to the most vulnerable'
The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was originally tabled in 2012 by independent MSP Margo MacDonald but taken over, following her death from Parkinson's disease, by Green MSP Patrick Harvie.
The proposed legislation would have allowed someone with a terminal, life-limiting or life-shortening disease the right to request a fatal dose of medication to enable them to end their life.
However, opponents of Mr McArthur's bill say the legislation would put vulnerable people "at risk of abuse and coercion".
Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, said: "Once eugenics gets accepted in medicine, people will be killed against their will by doctors who make subjective quality of life judgements about other people.
"We are seeing that happen today in countries like Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada. People are being pressured into euthanasia because of lack of access to social care or the cost of healthcare."
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