Royal College of Physicians drops opposition to assisted dying in favour of neutral stance - Dignity in Dying statement
Dignity in Dying responds to the news that the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) will drop its longstanding opposition to assisted dying and adopt a ‘neutral’ position, following the UK’s largest every survey of medical opinion on this issue.
In results released by the RCP today:
- 31.6% voted for The RCP to adopt a supportive stance (an increase from the 2014 survey).
- 43.4% voted for The RCP to adopt an opposed stance (a decrease from the 2014 survey).
- Because no clear majority voted for a supportive or opposed stance, the RCP will now adopt a neutral stance on assisted dying.
- Fewer than half of respondents to the survey said they were personally opposed to assisted dying.
- The survey was completed by 6,885 respondents from more than 30 specialties.
Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying said,
“It is highly significant that the oldest medical college in England has dropped its longstanding opposition to assisted dying in favour of a neutral position. This will allow the RCP to accurately reflect the range of views among its members and to contribute its expertise to the debate in a more balanced way. The RCP will now join the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal Society of Medicine and medical associations around the world which have taken a balanced and compassionate stance on this issue.
“This week research by Dignity in Dying and by Open Democracy has revealed the network of anti-choice activists working together to attempt to silence the RCP. Those behind a legal challenge to the RCP over its survey (which was rejected by the high court today) appear at first glance to be a grassroots group of doctors with evidence-based concerns, but digging deeper, their opposition appears to have links to faith-based, anti-choice agendas. This vocal minority is not representative of the majority of doctors or of the public.
“With 80% of the British public supporting a change in the law to allow terminally ill people a say over how and when they die, and over 100 million people in the USA and Australia and across Canada having access to safe, compassionate assisted dying laws, it is clear that this issue is not going away. Medical organisations in these places have seen that providing the option of assisted dying to their patients is perfectly compatible with a doctor’s prime purpose, which is to relieve the suffering of their patients. This move from the RCP will allow the voices of terminally ill people and their loved ones to rightly be front and centre in this debate.
“The Royal College of Physicians should be congratulated for its commitment to engage with its members on this vitally important issue. We now urge other medical organisations, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association, to engage with their members in a similarly open and constructive manner.”
