Margo MacDonald launches fresh bid for assisted suicide bill Published on Tuesday 24 January 2012 17:57 A FRESH attempt to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland was launched today, with proponents arguing the weight of public opinion is on their side. Veteran politician Margo MacDonald unveiled a new consultation on the issue, a year on from the defeat at the Scottish Parliament of her first bid to give people the right to choose when to die. Ms MacDonald, Scotland's only independent MSP, said she has "learned lessons" from her previous attempt and is proposing a "clearer, more straightforward process." Among the new proposals being put forward is a suggestion that a trained "licensed facilitator" - a so-called "friend at the end" - would have to be present when someone is at the point of ending their own life. Such a measure is primarily aimed at making sure any fatal medication is taken correctly. A facilitator could be someone like a doctor, social worker, or close friend, but not a relative or anyone who stands to gain from the death. Launching her plans, Ms MacDonald said much has changed since her first End of Life Assistance Bill was defeated by MSPs in December 2010. She pointed to the Scottish Parliament elections resulting in a "new batch" of MSPs sitting at Holyrood, and highlighted developments on the issue south of the border. The Commission on Assisted Dying recently called for doctors to be given the right to be able to help terminally-ill people with less than a year left to live to kill themselves. Ms MacDonald said: "Since the defeat of the first Bill I presented to the third Scottish Parliament, a great deal has changed. There is a new Government and the composition of the various parties has changed. The politician said she was confident that MSPs, when they were campaigning to be elected, would have encountered a "considerable body of support" for the principle of allowing people suffering from an incurable condition and approaching death to seek help to end their lives. Under the plan, Scotland would become the first part of Britain to change the law, which currently leaves Scots open to prosecution for culpable homicide. Ms MacDonald, a former SNP politician who suffers from Parkinson's disease, failed to secure the necessary support to pass the controversial legislation at Holyrood just over a year ago, losing in a 16-85 free vote. The End of Life Assistance Bill had been considered by a specially-convened committee, which did not support the general principles. Assisted suicide is a criminal offence in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. John Bishop, secretary of the Humanist Society Scotland, was at today's launch. He said: "This consultation is an important step forward for Scotland. This Bill proposes a logical step in law to match the advancement of medical science. We now have the opportunity to discuss how to give every adult in Scotland the opportunity to make the choice that's right for them at the end of their life. Margo facing up to her toughest battle THE scene is the epitome of suburbia. An elderly woman with the merest hint of a blue rinse stands at the kitchen table and rolls out a clear plastic bag which the casual viewer might assume is designed to hold a chicken or turkey but is, in fact, for the human head. Tom Brown: Let's have Margo's law, and take the lead on assisted suicide AS THAT deep-thinking philosopher and piano man Billy Joel declaimed: "I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life." More important, when it inevitably happens, it will be my death. GP at centre of suicide row suspended CAMPAIGNERS yesterday called for a change in the law to allow patients to ask for help to end their lives, after a Scottish GP was suspended for prescribing sleeping pills to an elderly woman so she could kill herself.