A Bill introduced to the Scottish Parliament by Liam McArthur MSP to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill people has been rejected by 69 votes to 57. This is the end of the line for this particular Bill. In England, similar proposed legislation is bogged down in the House of Lords.
However, legislation in the Isle of Man and in Jersey has been more successful. And there is an increasing number of countries and states around the world, mostly in Europe, Australasia and the Americas where some form of assisted dying is legal or decriminalized.
With elections in Scotland coming up and with polls consistently suggesting a large majority of the public in favour of assisted dying becoming legal, the issue is unlikely to go away. I’m interested in how legal assisted dying might have an impact on the work of funeral professionals such as celebrants. And I’ve conducted a couple of information workshops on the topic.
These are not debates and I try to keep my own views out of them. But they’re a chance to explore what assisted dying means in different countries and what impact it can have on funerals and grieving using some first hand experience and research from colleagues in Canada.
Now, I’ve been asked by Full Circle Funeral Directors who are based in Yorkshire, to re-run one of these sessions. Here’s a little video I made to introduce the workshop:
If you’re interested in attending the session you can find details on Eventbrite here.
Michael Hannah, Dundee, 27 March 2026