Liam McArthur MSP launched a consultation on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill at Holyrood yesterday.

Mr McArthur said: “The current prohibition on such assistance is unjust and causes needless suffering for many dying people and their families across Scotland. If a person has reached the limits of palliative care and faces a bad death, none of the current options available to them in Scotland are likely to provide an acceptable alternative.”

He added: “In an international context, over 200 million citizens worldwide now have access to assisted dying. Given the reputation of Scotland and its Parliament for embracing progressive values of justice, rights, equity, and compassion, I believe it is only right that this consultation seeks to find a Scotland-specific approach to legislate for the choice of an assisted death for terminally ill adults.”

Campaigners who oppose reform have formed the Care Not Killing (CNK) group and expressed deep concerns about the proposed legislation.

Dr Gordon Macdonald, CNK’s chief executive, said: “There is already significant concern as there has been in the past when two bills were defeated. In 2015, the last time MSPs voted against a bill there were more than 15,000 names on our petition. I am confident the total will be higher this time.”

The Catholic Church is in the vanguard of the opposition and the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland (BCOS) is firmly against the bill.

They said: “Legalising assisted suicide would put immeasurable pressure on vulnerable people including those with disabilities to end their lives prematurely, for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden on others.”

Dr Calum MacKellar, director of research at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, said: “If assisted suicide is legalised, it would be the first time Scottish society, through its Parliament, would accept that a human life may be unworthy of life.”