Doctors: ‘Assisted suicide is not medical treatment’

The British Medical Association (BMA) has agreed that assisted suicide is not a medical treatment.

At the BMA’s annual conference, medical professionals voted to pass a motion “to ensure any legislation around assisted dying specifies that assisted dying is not a medical treatment”. In addition, they emphasised that there must be explicit conscience protections, and such legislation must “not alter the fundamental principles of the NHS”.

The BMA has a neutral stance on assisted suicide, but previously warned the Government that Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill raised “serious potential moral hazards for consultants, and serious potential adverse impacts on health services”.

‘Voice of doctors’

Another carried motion stated “that any assisted dying service must be separately and adequately resourced, and must not result in any de-prioritisation or reduction of funding for core general practice, mental health, or palliative care services.”

It called “for clear clinical standards, training requirements, and legal and regulatory protections to safeguard health and social care professionals and students from pressure, coercion, or discrimination related to participation in assisted dying, including robust protection for those exercising conscientious objection”.

Dr Andrew Green, Chair of the BMA medical ethics committee, noted that although the BMA remains neutral on the issue, “as the voice of doctors, who in turn are advocates for patients, where there are moves to change the law, we will not stay silent on an issue that will significantly impact the profession and those we care for.”

He added that “any involvement from doctors in assisted dying should be on an opt-in basis and not a required part of their role”.

New assisted suicide Bill

In June, Labour MP Lauren Edwards brought forward identical legislation to Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill, which narrowly passed in the House of Commons one year ago.

By using identical legislation, Edwards could invoke the Parliament Acts. This would mean that if the Bill is voted through the House of Commons unchanged, it could ultimately become law without the agreement of the House of Lords – where the Leadbeater Bill stalled.

Ashley Dalton, Labour MP for West Lancashire, said she was “deeply concerned” at new legislation being brought forward in the same form.

“Voters put us in power to reduce the cost of living and fix the NHS. We have debated this deeply divisive and flawed assisted dying bill for over a year and supporters have refused to listen or to make the necessary changes.”