Annual Representative Meeting 2005 - policy statement on assisted dying
30 June 2005
That this Meeting believes that the question of the criminal law in relation to assisted dying is primarily a matter for society and for Parliament. The BMA should not oppose legislation which alters the criminal law but should press for robust safeguards both for patients and for doctors who do not wish to be involved in such procedures.
Background
The meeting recognised that there is still a wide spectrum of opinion about assisted dying within the profession. In 2005, motions submitted from constituencies of the Annual Representative Meeting reflected that wide diversity and the BMA held an open debate on the issues.
Among the points made during the debate were the following:
1) Although some doctors support the concept of physician assisted dying, the majority appear to be opposed to it;
2) Individual patient autonomy is acknowledged to be an important value but must be balanced with other societal values;
3) Vulnerable people must be protected from any societal pressures to end their lives prematurely;
4) Some patients have distressing symptoms at the end of life that cannot be completely alleviated by medical skills;
5) Good effective palliative care must be more widely available;
6) Emotional and spiritual support must be available for patients wanting it;
7) Any future move to legalise physician assisted dying should involve close consultation with doctors, including palliative care doctors;
8) Assisted suicide need not necessarily involve doctors;
9) If, in future, any model of assisted dying is legalised in the UK, the safeguards must be demonstrably robust regardless of whether doctors are involved or not;
10) The law should be respected. If, however, carers or others assist a terminally ill person to end his or her life, courts should consider the circumstances of the case and provide a penalty proportional to those circumstances, rather than a mandatory prison term. 