Assisted suicide - the legal position

• It is not illegal to attempt suicide in Scotland, but helping someone take their own life could lead to prosecution.

• In England and Wales, the Suicide Act 1961 makes it an offence to encourage or assist a suicide or a suicide attempt, which is almost identical to the situation in Northern Ireland.

• The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has to approve any assisted suicide court action in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• In 2010, Keir Starmer, then the DPP, issued guidance that made it clear that family or friends who travelled with a loved one to the Swiss suicide group Dignitas would not risk prosecution.

• The guidelines were the result of a case brought by Debbie Purdy, a terminally ill woman, who in 2009 won a legal ruling requiring the DPP to set out whether her husband would be committing an offence if he accompanied her to Dignitas to end her life.

• Scotland's prosecution service, the Crown Office, has issued no such guidance.

• Assisted suicide is legal in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium as well as Switzerland.

SNP MSP Mike Mackenzie says he respects both view points on the issue of assisted suicide.

Mr Mackenzie says the parliament owes it to all the people who have expressed a view to scrutinise and debate this bill properly.

To do that, the bill must travel all the way through the parliamentary process and be passed at stage 1, he says.

The SNP MSP says that if they do that they can look their constituents in the eye and explain why they voted the way they did.

He says: "If we have it within our means to relieve suffering then we should do so".

Conservative MSP and former GP Nanette Milne opposes the bill.

She says that the idea of "actively and deliberately hastening death" is "deeply disturbing" and risks undermining patient trust in doctors.

Ms Milne adds that continuing improvements in palliative care is the way forward.

Religious groups and some medical professionals have expressed opposition to the legislation in previous evidence sessions.

John Deighan from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland said we cannot deliberately hasten death, adding we must have a "safe society where human dignity is always upheld".

Mark Hazelwood from the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care told the committee last month there are concerns about how the legislation could impact on vulnerable people.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Palliative Care Lead Clinician for Wales and Crossbench Peer, says the "fundamental problem with the bill" lies with who it is trying to include.

Last March a group of doctors including a surgeon and a professor of neurology spoke out in support of the bill.

The 11 medical experts backed the legislation.

In a letter to The Herald newspaper, the doctors stated that they believed the bill will add to the palliative care on offer in Scotland, not undermine it.

A previous attempt to pass the bill was voted down by MSPs in 2010.

Labour MSP Mary Fee is speaking in support of the Assisted Suicide Bill.

Ms Fee says when talking about death it is important to remember that each individual treats death differently.

To be diagnosed with a terminal illness is to realise that death is not a choice but a reality, she says.

The Labour MSP says legalising assisted suicide is a matter of equality and gives the recipient control over their destiny.

SNP MSP Christian Allard says he is not against the laudable intentions of the bill but he is definitely against the principles in its current form.

Mr Allard says despite the will of the member to listen, it is the bill itself which is not fit for purpose.

Ms Robson praises the way the parliament has dealt with this very difficult and complex issue in the past and again today.

The health secretary says she was struck by the committee's concerns about timescales, safety concerns and coercion and additional fears due to a change in societal attitudes.

Ms Robison says the lack of definition for key terms is also a concern and it would leave to many people eligible.

She says it is very important that the government ensures everyone gets the best palliative care available.

The SNP MSP says it is her view that palliative care must be improved.

Shona Robison, SNP MSP, says the government believes the current law around assisted suicide is clear and it has no plans to change that.

The Health Secretary says that after "careful consideration", she says she personally has chosen to vote against the bill but adds that she sympathises with those who are for it.

Mr Doris says the health committee recognises the strength of feeling on both sides of the debate.

He says the bill has "significant flaws" and has "major challenges" to overcome.

Despite the majority of the committee not supporting the general principles, the committee decided to make no formal recommendation on the legislation.

Mr Doris says the bills failure to define key terms leave far to many people eligible to receive assistance.

He says the "savings clause" in the bill that those who made minor errors or careless choices would not be prosecuted under common law.

Again, he says there is a lack of definitions and the bill would increase uncertainty and would need to be addressed to approve the bill tonight at stage 1.

Mr Dorris says his committee noted a lack of definitions within the bill.

He sites the examples of "euthanasia" or "assisted suicide" and adds that while the bill envisages an injection of a lethal dose, it does not offer a further definition on the specific methods to be used.

Mr Dorris clarifies this point by saying the bill does not outline which actions would be protected under the terms of the bill.

The committee said it would require robust safeguards to protect the vulnerable and public safety considerations before it could back assisted suicide.

Mr Doris says the committee acknowledges the arguments of the bill are to show compassion and also that the opponents of the bill are concerned about risks.

He says we need to look at choice with responsibility, which puts a different emphasis on the issue.

The SNP MSP says the implications for the rest of society must be taken into account, which includes the "frail, vulnerable and frightened people" being cared for in the NHS.

SNP MSP Bob Dorris, deputy convenor of the Health Committee, external, opens by saying that their findings are based on the "complex, moral and legal issues" surrounding assisted suicide.

He goes on to praise public support, referencing the 900 written submissions to the committee.

Glenn Campbell
Political correspondent, BBC Scotland

Analysis by Glenn Campbell, political correspondent

This is the second time the Scottish Parliament has been asked to decide on assisted suicide.

The late MSP Margo MacDonald tried unsuccessfully to change the law five years ago.

Her End of Life Assistance Bill was rejected by 85 votes for to 16 against, with two abstentions.

Her second attempt, the Assisted Suicide bill, is being taken forward in her memory by the Green MSP Patrick Harvie.

Holyrood's health committee found "significant flaws" with this legislation but Mr Harvie has said it can be improved if MSPs back the bill in principle.

Opinion polls tend to suggest that the public want terminally ill people to be able to seek medical help to end their lives.

But parliament is unlikely to support the proposals before it today.

Mr Harvie says there are many situations faced in the real world by the medical professionals where tough moral and ethical questions are faced.

This bill asks us not to imagine or wish these away, but to respect the decisions of individuals.

He says let us go on after today to debate the detail of this bill and make improvements.

Mr Harvie says does a right to die become a duty to die, the risk of coercion.

He says coercion is possible but that is true under the current situation.

It is not possible to be definitive about the number of terminally ill people who commit suicide each year but it is estimated at around 50.

They are having to act in a legal vacuum and in an unsupported way, he says.

Mr Harvie says the people are more vulnerable under the current system than they would be if the bill was passed.

Mr Harvie recognises there are concerns which unite supporters and opponents,. He says: "Many people ask why should we focus on the right to die instead of the right to live?"

He adds that those for and against the bill can be "on the same page" in relation to the right care, support and facilities for disabled people but, he adds, however good the availability of those other facilities, "they don't overcome the issues raised by this bill".

"This bill seeks to widen the choices available to people, not narrow them," he says.