British Medical Association And Euthanasia

EDM number 2485 in 2005-06, proposed by Brian Iddon on 03/07/2006.

That this House welcomes the motion passed overwhelmingly by the British Medical Association's (BMA) 2006 Conference opposing the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide; notes that this overturned the motion of neutrality passed at the end of last year's conference; further notes that this opposition to euthanasia is supported by national bodies representing the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu communities as well as atheists and Christians; further notes that the World Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland, the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons who treat some of the most distressing forms of cancer, and the Royal College of Nursing all maintain policies opposing euthanasia; further notes that this vote thereby brings the BMA back into line with the views of grassroots doctors in the UK and with the international medical community; further notes doctors' observations that persistent requests for assisted dying are extremely rare when good palliative care is available; further notes doctors' concerns that a right to die could easily become a duty to die; and calls on the Government to withstand any further attempts to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide and to ensure that high quality palliative care is available to all who need it.

This motion has been signed by a total of 104 MPs.