Sir Patrick Stewart, the actor, has endorsed the campaign to legalize assisted dying in Scotland. The 81-year-old, whose credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation on television and the X-Men series of blockbuster movies, told The Sunday Times that such legislation “is the mark of a forward-thinking, progressive society”.
Last month Liam McArthur, a Liberal Democrat MSP, launched a public consultation on his proposed member’s bill to give mentally competent terminally ill people the choice of assisted dying to avoid a protracted, painful and undignified death.
Assisted dying is legal in countries including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada and nine states in the the US including California, where Stewart lives. The actor told how he had been affected by the death of someone close who ended her life in appalling circumstances.
