The Royal College of General Practitioners has announced that, following a membership survey, it will “move to a position of neither supporting nor opposing assisted dying being legal,” having previously been opposed to a change in the law. This is despite opposition remaining the most-preferred option of members (47.6%, up from 46%) while the proportion wanting the College to support a change in the law has fallen markedly (33.7%, down from 41% in 2019).
The change in stance was adopted after a vote within the College’s Council (61% backing neutrality, 39% backing continued opposition) influenced by a second question in the survey. Asked which approach Council should take if “if none of the three statements in the previous question were selected by more than 50%,” 49.8% ― ironically, also less than half ― opted for neutrality. (Arguably, logically, this question should have been disregarded if no option was supported by more than half of respondents.)
What should have made this moot is that when undecideds are excluded, more than 50% (4,178 out of 8,333) backed continued College opposition to a change in the law.
(In the light of assisted suicide proposals in Jersey and the Isle of Man, it is worth noting that well over half of respondents in the Crown Dependencies wanted the College to remain opposed to a change in the law, even with undecideds left in.)
Neutralising medical representative bodies has been a key goal for “assisted dying” campaigners, but this episode actually reminds us that those working most closely with patients at the end of life are most likely to recognise the dangers of assisted suicide ― the British Geriatrics Society and the Association for Palliative Medicine are both opposed. Still, activists will make much of RCGP neutrality ― please make sure your MP and MSP know the full picture.
Care Not Killing Chief Executive Dr Gordon Macdonald said:
‘Most doctors we speak to are deeply concerned at what they have seen going on in Parliament, with key safeguards being removed from the “assisted dying” bill, while additional measures to protect those who could be coerced into their lives prematurely, or with conditions such as Down Syndrome or eating disorders such as anorexia, have been rejected by those pursuing an ideological agenda to allow the state sanctioned suicide.’
‘At a time when we have seen how fragile our health care system is, how the hospice movement has a £150 million blackhole in its budget, and when up to one in four Brits who would benefit from palliative care but aren’t currently receiving it, this should be the focus of our attention.’
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