How does the existing law work?

The existing law holds penalties in reserve that are sufficient to make anyone contemplating assisting another person’s suicide think very carefully before doing so. But it also has discretion not to prosecute where the evidence is clear that assistance had been given only reluctantly, for genuinely compassionate reasons and without any malicious intent. As a result cases of assisting suicide are very rare in the UK and, thanks to the law’s deterrent, they are usually those that do not call for prosecution and they are not prosecuted. That deterrent would disappear under an ‘assisted dying’ law.  A person with malicious intent would have nothing to fear from pressuring another to seek legalised assisted suicide.

What do the public and doctors think?

Opinion polls say that a majority of the public would like to see ‘assisted dying’ legalised. But these polls are often sponsored by ‘assisted dying’ pressure groups and worded in such a way as to lead unwary respondents to give the desired answers. It is equally possible to show that the public have serious concerns about assisted suicide – including polls showing that support falls to below 50 per cent among people who have heard the main arguments against it. 

A few years ago the Mackay Select Committee, which was examining this subject in depth, invited members of the public to write in with their views.  Among over 12,000 respondents, opinion as to whether the law should be changed was almost exactly evenly divided. This reflects the fact that many people – probably roughly equal numbers on either side – have strong views about assisted suicide, while the majority of the public do not have an informed view at all. 

The evidence suggests that the more people understand what assisted suicide is, and what the alternatives to it are, the more they oppose a change in the law. This also applies to medical professionals. 90 per cent of doctors who specialise in palliative care, the branch of medicine that specialises in treatment and care of terminally ill people, say they would not participate in ‘assisted dying’.  A majority of other clinicians with experience of treating terminally ill patients, such as GPs and geriatricians, are also opposed.  A recent opinion survey of its members by the BMA found that a majority of doctors would be unwilling to participate in ‘assisted dying’.

See posts below for further reading on the meaning of assisted suicide and public and professional opinion.