Emma Roddick to vote against assisted dying bid

However, our research suggests a majority of MSPs will back a members' Bill brought in by Liam McArthur when it comes to a vote later in the year.

READ MORE: Assisted dying 'will become legal' in Scotland says MSP Liam McArthur

At least 49 MSPs have publicly said they will vote for the Liberal Democrat’s push to change the law.

Supporters of the Bill are confident others who have not yet made their views known will vote at stage one to approve its general principles.

It’s understood that a final decision has yet to be made on whether or not members of the cabinet will be able to vote based on their conscience.

Nevertheless, both First Minister Humza Yousaf and Health Secretary Michael Matheson have already made clear their opposition to the plans.

Holyrood has twice voted down previous attempts to give those who are terminally ill medical assistance to take their own life, with the last bid in 2015 being defeated by 82 votes to 36.

But two Holyrood elections have taken place since then, and about two-thirds of current MSPs have never voted on the issue.

The Herald on Sunday emailed all 129 MSPs asking if they had come to a final decision on how they would vote.

Many were undecided.

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene said he reamined “open-minded” but would wait to see what was in the Bill.

“I’m a details person so will scrutinise it fairly and squarely,” he added.

The veteran SNP MSP Stuart McMillan, who voted against the two previous attempts to get assisted dying on the statute books, said he did not have “a fixed opinion.”

“I can see why some people would want to support the bill but also why others disagree with it,” he said.

“My concerns surround safeguards. Any safeguarding measure will be for a fixed period of time because once legislation is passed, it will be easier to amend it in comparison to creating new legislation.”

That fear was shared by Tory MSP Miles Briggs: “I’m currently undecided on how I will vote but have a number of specific concerns around the potential opening up of the Bill in the future and know those who would be tasked with undertaking this work are also concerned.”

The SNP’s Michelle Thomson said she was “having as many meetings, representing all the different views, as I can.”

She added: “I think it beneficial that this is a free vote - it makes it incumbent on all MSP’s to undertake research in advance and should allow for a much more nuanced debate.”

Ms Roddick told us: “I will not be voting for the legislation.

"I have been meeting regularly for the last few years with groups and individuals who hold opinions across the spectrum to try to get to a position I'm sure about, and I don't see how this legislation can be safe while disabled people don’t have equality.”

Labour’s Alex Rowley said he was minded to vote against and believed MSPs should be “focusing all our efforts and attention on improving care across the country to ensure that every person in Scotland has the ability to live a life where their needs are met, they are cared for properly and they are happy.”

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said the experience of other jurisdictions, notably Canada, was that “however carefully you build in safeguards into such legislation to protect the elderly, the vulnerable and the disabled, these will quickly be dismantled.”

“There is a real risk to people in these groups from this legislation, which explains why so many disability groups and campaigners are opposed.”

The SNP’s Alasdair Allan said he has “serious concerns about these proposals.”

“I am worried such a change would risk placing pressure on frail or terminally ill people. It would also fundamentally alter the relationship between patients and doctors. While I will give this issue all due consideration in the months ahead, I am minded to vote against the legalisation on assisted suicide.”

READ MORE: Assisted dying: Ignore celebrities as Scottish Government legislates

His SNP colleague Kevin Stewart said he would back the Bill: “I have listened to those who have experienced terminal illnesses. A number of those people have expressed a wish to be make the most of the time they have left, and to do this without the spectre of a prolonged and painful death hanging over them.”

Labour’s Carol Mochan agreed. She told The Herald on Sunday: “It is clear that many people every single year suffer for extended periods in serious pain as a result of terminal conditions.

"In some cases individuals may believe that ending their life prematurely is an option they should have available to them in order to stop that pain.

"This seems to me to be a basic and sensible request for liberty and decency and one that’s time has come."

Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton said the change in legislation would “reflect the majority of public who support giving terminally ill people with capacity the right to choose when, where and how they die.”

“I’ve watched family members experience good and bad deaths, but they didn’t have a choice; changing the law in Scotland is vital because people should have control over their end of lifem” she added.

The SNP’s Audrey Nicoll said the death of her father had shaped her thinking on assisted dying.

“In principle, I am supportive of a legislative provision that would give a person the right to choose how they bring their life to a close, but where protections are in place for the person, and others involved. I would have to be persuaded any legislation coming forward was very robust.”

Rona Mackay, said the the change would bring Scotland into line with "the many other countries throughout the world who have had this option for many years and cannot imagine a society without it.”

She added: “Terminally ill people have a right to a dignified death of their choosing and I believe the time is right for Scotland to give this people this option if they choose it. Liam McArthur’s excellent, tightly-drawn Bill will do this and I believe that it will pass through Parliament successfully.”

The SNP’s Colin Beattie had voted for the general principles of the last assisted dying bill in 2015, but “subsequently could not accept the final form” which he felt “did not provide adequate protection for certain vulnerable people.”

“This Bill is much more limited in scope and looks as if it might at least allow a cautious step forward.”

Labour’s Monica Lennon said there had been “a lot of misinformation and well-funded campaigns that may have made MSPs in previous sessions of Parliament nervous.”

She added: “As I’ve grown older and been more exposed to death and loss, personally and in my role representing constituents, I’ve come to learn that without properly regulated legal assisted dying, people are making awful choices.

“Some take the matter into their own hands, implicating friends and family. Others can afford to travel abroad, a choice that is not available to most of my constituents.

“The time has come for this carefully developed law.”

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is expected to be introduced shortly with an initial vote on its general principles likely to take place later in the year.