A bill which would legalise assisted suicide in Scotland has been formally launched by Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald.
The Independent politician, who has Parkinson's Disease, wants Scotland to be the first country in the UK to change the law to prevent people who help loved ones end their lives from being prosecuted for culpable homicide.
If the End of Life Care Bill receives the support of MSPs, anyone over the age of 16 would be allowed to ask their doctor for help to die.
However, safeguards stipulate that a person would have to be diagnosed as terminally ill or permanently physically incapacitated to the point where they find life intolerable to qualify for help. The person must also have been registered with a GP in Scotland for at least 18 months.
Unveiling the bill at Holyrood on Thursday, Ms MacDonald said: "It's absolutely appalling that people should have to leave their homes and their families and friends and everything that's familiar to them, and end their life in a foreign country in what has to be a relatively clinical atmosphere.
"Dying is part of living, it's the last act of your life, and if we accept the responsibility of how we live our lives, then I really fail to see where there is any demarcation of how we should die."
Ms MacDonald drew attention to her arms, which were visibly shaking, but insisted she was not trying to change the law for personal reasons. She said: "There are many other people who have progressive, degenerative conditions that are much more vicious than mine.
"And they only have to look forward to a very, very, unhappy, unpleasant, undignified end of life experience.
"This Bill is meant to try and redress that unfairness, to give those people the autonomy to exercise some control over how they die, to give them the legal right to seek assistance and to protect the people that give assistance."
Ms MacDonald has already said she would like to be allowed the right to choose her own death if her condition deteriorated and her plans have gained support from MSPs across the political spectrum.
However, her proposals have attracted some opposition from anti-euthanasia campaigners. The Care Not Killing alliance argues a change in the law could put some terminally-ill people under pressure to take their own life prematurely.
Dr Gordon Macdonald of Care Not Killing urged Holyrood to proceed with "extreme care and caution" when considering the Bill, branding Ms MacDonald's proposals "highly dangerous".
Dr Macdonald said: "Euthanasia laws may meet the wishes of a small minority of strong-minded and highly-determined individuals, but they risk placing many more, less resolute people at risk either of malicious exploitation by others or of ending their lives against their own instincts in order to spare others a financial or emotional burden."
The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics said the Bill would mean human lives "no longer have meaning, value or worth".
However, a Scots pensioner who attended the Bill's launch said she supported Ms MacDonald's calls for a change in the law.
Agnes Stevenson, from Prestonpans in East Lothian, fought breast cancer twice but said she would rather end her life than undergo further medical treatment for the disease.
Ms Stevenson said she had researched how to use the Dignitas service in Switzerland, which helps people to die.
She added: "I love Scotland and I don't understand why I have to leave my country to die. Even trying to get your ashes back is a nightmare. I'd probably be buried in Switzerland."
Mrs Stevenson called on MSPs to "listen to the people" but conceded that she thought the Bill would fall, adding: "The religious lobby is too strong."
The First Minister himself has said that he is "not convinced" by Ms MacDonald's argument. However, Alex Salmond said it was an issue of conscience and confirmed Government ministers would be given a free vote on the issue.
Scotland's opposition parties have also confirmed that they will allow their members to vote freely without party guidance.
