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An Ipsos Mori poll of 112 Members of Parliament found
that 53 per cent surveyed thought there should be no
prosecution "if a doctor in England or Wales helps a
terminally ill, mentally competent adult patient to die
when directly requested to do so, by the patient."
An earlier poll by Ipsos Mori published in June
found that three quarters of adults felt a family member
or friend should not be prosecuted for enabling or
assisting a terminally ill but mentally competent adult
to travel abroad to commit suicide. Pro-assisted
suicide campaigners said the proportion of MPs
sympathetic to a change in the law is now nearly double
the number who last voted for a change in 1997.
However doctors leaders said they were firmly
against any change in the law. Vivienne Nathanson, head
of Sciences and Ethics at the British Medical
Association, said: "The BMA has firm policy on this
issue." "We are opposed to the legalisation of assisted
dying and we are not lobbying for any change in the law
in the UK. Assisted dying is illegal in the UK so
doctors are not permitted to help terminally ill
competent adults to die."
[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic
are in the Links: section below.]
To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past advisories on the web (see bottom.)
Britain: MPs back doctors' right to help their patients die
[Times Online]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6958216.ece
The latest poll, conducted by Ipsos MORI,
found that 53 per cent of the MPs were in favour
of doctors being spared prosecution as long as the
patient was terminally ill, of sound mind and had
made a direct request to die. A poll by The Times
this year revealed overwhelming public support for
a change in the law. Three quarters of those
polled said that they wanted doctors to be allowed
to help terminally ill patients to end their
lives. Support was particularly strong among those
aged 55 to 64. Six out of ten also wanted friends
and relatives to be allowed to help terminally ill
people to die without fear of prosecution.
Britain: Opponents of assisted suicide are in a minority
[Times Online]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6958042.ece
Joel Joffe says in an OpEd piece: Those who
base their views on their faith have no
alternative other than to oppose it. They regard
suicide as a sin. So when the DPP assesses the
responses to the consultation, he should be aware
that many will come from the relatively small
minority who base their views on their faith, and
have been encouraged by their religious leaders to
write to him. Meanwhile, most of the silent
majority who support assisted dying and, it can be
assumed, would also support the policy, either do
not know of the consultation or have not had the
same kind of face-to-face encouragement to
respond. [Lord Joffe has introduced Bills on
assisted dying to the House of Lords.]
Britain: Judiciary shouldn't decide how we die
[Guardian]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/15/assisted-suicide-parliamentary-debate
Nick Cartwright writes: The DPP, directed
by the judiciary, should not be adopting a
legislative function. For too long, assisted
dying has been practiced behind closed doors, and
this public consultation was long overdue. It is
now for parliament to respond to this
consultation, ensuring choice in the manner and
timing of our death without compromising the
safeguards necessary to protect the vulnerable.
UK: This looming ageing crisis needs some grown-up solutions
[Guardian]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/13/britain-ageing-crisis-grownup-proposals
Jackie Ashley writes: So hoorah for us
that in 20 years' time there will be 2.9 million
Britons aged over 85. Except, of course, that the
crisis I'd like to talk about is that so many of
them are doomed to a wretched, lonely, horrible
final decade of life. And when I say "them",
reader, I may well be talking about you. Will
you be among the 1 million or so people suffering
from dementia, or their partners or carers? Most
of us react to the thought by flinching away from
it, or making some deflective joke about taking
out membership of Dignitas. The huge problems of
ageing looming over us are exactly like climate
change in this way — we know in our hearts what
is coming but in our daily lives most of us shut
the knowledge out. It's too much.
UK: 2000 responses as assisted suicide consultation comes to a close
[The Crown Prosecution Service]
http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_releases/159_09/
This press release from the Crown Prosecution
Service says the over 2000 responses have been
received to the interim policy on the prosecution
of assisted suicide. It notes: The
consultation is due to close at 5:00pm on
Wednesday 16 December with the final policy due
for publication in spring 2010. Until the final
policy is published, the interim policy will be
applied to all cases.
Christian doctors in boycott of "back-door euthanasia"
[Daily Mail]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1235587/Christian-doctors-boycott-door-euthanasia.html
Thousands of Christian doctors have
boycotted a public consultation on assisted
suicide. They fear a 'slippery slope' to
legalising euthanasia without Parliamentary
approval.
Hope, Christopher. "Half of MPs say doctors should be allowed to help a terminally-ill patient commit suicide". Telegraph. Published: 7:00AM GMT 16 Dec 2009. <www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6819147/More-than-half-of-MPs-believe-doctors-should-be-allowed-to-help-a-terminally-ill-patient-to-die.html>. Telegraph, Victory House, Meeting House Lane, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TT. (c) Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.
assisted suicide
poll
British Medical Association
Britain
The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid200912162856.
Mailed: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 14:25:27 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.
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