Withdrawal Of Treatment And Introduction Of Euthanasia

EDM number 577 in 1993-94, proposed by David Alton on 10/02/1994.

That this House notes that the judgment in the case of Mr Tony Bland stressed the need for a body of experience to be established through the courts in cases of withdrawal of treatment including food and fluids; notes the judgment stressed it should apply only to patients in a persistent vegetative state and that for the foreseeable future all such cases should be brought before the courts; notes that in the case of 'S', the first case following Bland, there was some question as to whether or not the patient was in a persistent vegetative state and that while his mother supported the application the father had doubts; further notes that nonetheless the court refused to demand a second independent medical opinion and time for full investigative procedures necessary in accumulating the body of experience called for in the Bland judgment; recognises that while there may be complications in re-siting gastrostomy tubes, patients can be maintained comfortably with intravenous nutrition for sufficient time to allow proper investigations, thus protecting the basic rights of helpless patients and allaying public fears; further questions the suggestion put forward by the Appeal Court in the case of 'S' that in further such cases where emergency treatment is required, application to the courts may not be necessary; and calls on the Government to introduce legislation to outlaw the gradual practice and acceptance of euthanasia.

This motion has been signed by a total of 28 MPs.