Assisted dying

Written by David Fletcher 15 Mar 2019
Assisted dying

A legal challenge has been submitted regarding a Royal College of Physicians (RCP) poll on assisted suicide. The poll asked members where they stand on this issue, but the RCP said it would adopt a neutral stance unless there was a 60% majority either way. Until now it has been officially opposed to assisted dying. Four doctors have launched a crowdfunding page to fund a legal challenge to the poll, saying that a small minority who support assisted dying want to change the RCP's default position in an unfair way. Even if 59% of members vote to maintain opposition to a change in the law, the College will change to a neutral position anyway. The doctors argue that using a supra-majority to change a policy is, as far as they are aware, entirely without precedent. It is believed that Dignity in Dying, the campaign group for assisted dying, influenced the move.

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