UK doctors must engage with the assisted dying debate now, says The BMJ

Because the UK is considering a new law allowing assisted suicide BMJ This week we will explore the debate about assisted suicide. End-of-life psychologically competent adults prescribe end-of-life medications to administer themselves within strict legal safeguards.

British citizens consistently support legalization, but doctors’ views on dying are divided, and most doctoral organizations take no position on this issue, editor-in-chief Fiona said. Dr. Godlee and his colleagues explain in an editorial.

They currently seek help to die in Switzerland with less than 50 British citizens annually, and 14% of UK suicides are among people with terminal or chronic illness, helping loved ones and doctors. Some want it, but those who agree with risk investigations and potential prosecutions.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which opposes legalization, will discuss the issue. Annual meeting This month, there was a move to move to a neutral position after the members’ opinions were divided in last year’s poll.

BMJ Has previously called on professional representatives to take a “involved in neutrality” position, neither for nor against, “because doctors must not interfere with social or parliamentary decisions.”

Neutrality is far from abandonment of responsibility, the authors say. Instead, they believe that it allows organizations to promote and fully engage in social conversations that are essential but currently lacking about death and the implications of it dying well.

“Professional participation should not be required, but doctors who oppose assisted suicide should not interfere with colleagues who believe it is ethically justified to help the dying patient die. You shouldn’t get in the way of the mortal patients who are reasonably seeking. End their lives with the help of a doctor, “they conclude.

Many people think that religious groups are relentlessly opposed to assisted suicide, but that is not the case, says Sir George Carey and Rabbi Jonathan Roman, Archbishop of Canterbury. They discuss their involvement in a new religious alliance to assist doctors in assisted suicide, claiming that there is nothing in the Bible that directly prohibits assisted suicide from ending suffering.

“There is nothing holy about suffering,” they write. “If terminally ill people do not want to live in pain in the last few months, they should be forced to do so for what purpose and who benefits in extending their lives. mosquito?”

They admit that this is a difficult area, but they say it is religiously appropriate to try to navigate it. “If you have the right to die well, or at least as much as you can, it means that you have an assisted suicide option, whether it is taken up or not. It is certainly really compassionate. There is a very religious response. “

The main debate about legalization is to respect self-determination and relieve suffering, but Professor Ole Hertling wonders if self-determination is really possible when choosing his own death.

As former president and author of the Danish Ethics Council Euthanasia and Physician Decision Ethics — Assisted suicide Discussion, He explains some of the serious problems that would arise if assisted suicide was legalized, and argues that autonomy in the case of assisted suicide is primarily an illusion.

“Patients overwhelmed by suffering may need more compassion, care, and love than those who kindly offer to end their lives,” he writes. “It doesn’t matter if people have the right to say that they are worthless. It doesn’t matter if they have the right to believe when they say it.”

Radiologist Jackie Davis says it’s more important than ever to have the data to support the assisted suicide debate.

A recent BMA survey found that more UK doctors personally supported the law change (50%) than opposed to the law change (39%), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was dying in the UK. You are asked to investigate the number of people who are. The number of people traveling abroad to access assisted suicide.

“The BMA findings have led people to question long-standing assumptions about the status quo,” says Davis. “It is hoped that evidence from ONS will do the same and that information will be available in time for future discussions at the House of Lords.”

The importance of using high quality evidence to signal legislative changes is well recognized. However, Catherine Sleeman and Gareth Owen argue that there is a gap in evidence to fill and research must be prioritized.

They seek a deeper understanding of public opinion that guides legislative changes and raises important questions about the effectiveness of consent as a safeguard and whether the role of physicians should remain unanswered. ..

“Whether or not assisted suicide is legal in the UK, proper palliative care provided throughout the care environment is essential,” they write. “In addition, we need to understand more about the patient and caregiver’s perspective on assisted suicide.”

“We are deeply plagued by the lasting story that people with disabilities have something to fear changing the law on assisted suicide,” said Stephen Duckworth, a rights activist for the disabled.

He points out that transparent assisted suicide with appropriate safeguards and protections for persons with disabilities exists and may already be working effectively around the world.

“I’m pleased that the UK’s medical view is changing,” he writes. “It doesn’t matter if we are disabled, medically qualified, or both. Indeed, a complete ban on assisted suicide is against individual choice. Can you recognize it? “

Two feature articles explain that UK medical institutions are in a position to legalize assisted suicide and ask if Scotland will be the first part of the UK to legalize assisted suicide. ..