Printed from: https://archive.cmf.org.uk/advocacy/pressrelease/?id=9
Published: 3rd May 2002
CMF General Secretary Peter Saunders said, 'the euthanasia lobby have lost their battle to bring in lethal injection euthanasia in the UK and this is why we are seeing a shift in tactics towards the softer target of assisted suicide. The European Court has wisely endorsed the earlier House of Lords decision by rejecting this attempt to bring in euthanasia via the back door.'
'Whilst we sympathise greatly with Diane Pretty, to have made provision for her to be killed would not only have affected her as an isolated individual. The treatments for the control of the symptoms of motor neurone disease have much in common with those used for symptom management in other neurological diseases and in cancer. If such treatment were to be classified as 'inhuman and degrading' this would not apply uniquely to people with motor neurone disease but also to the many thousands receiving palliation for other progressive diseases.
'The law is a blunt instrument, and there will always be individual cases, often those we have failed in managing optimally, which raise the questions about assisted suicide. But hard cases make bad laws and bad laws change the public conscience and place vulnerable groups at risk. Any change in the law to allow assisted suicide (whether by doctors or relatives) would threaten the trust necessary for the doctor-patient relationship to function, place pressure on patients (whether real or imagined) to request early death, and introduce a slippery slope to voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. Such legislation would also be impossible to police, might well undermine the development of palliative care services and could lead to patients being incited to request suicide for economic reasons by family, carers or society at large.
'Medical technology and palliative care have now advanced to a level where most people in the developed world, including those with motor neurone disease, are able to die comfortably. The European Association for Palliative Care in affirming its strong opposition to the legalisation of euthanasia has noted that euthanasia requests are very uncommon when care is aimed at achieving the best quality of life for patients and their families by focusing on their physical, psychosocial and spiritual suffering.
'The problem is that even when we allow for the treatment of depression (which is common in terminally ill patients and often contributing to their wish to die), many of the symptoms prompting the request for PAS are psychosocial and spiritual rather than physical. It is entirely inappropriate that patients' fears about loss of dignity or control over death should be managed with lethal drugs. Rather than helping patients to kill themselves we need to be treating the symptoms that are prompting the
request for early death.
'The time-honoured wisdom of the Hippocratic Oath, enjoins that doctors 'give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest such counsel'. As doctors, we recognise that life has a natural end, and that our own denials of its inevitability have led at times to inappropriate interventions where burden outweighs therapeutic benefit. We also recognise our responsibility as a profession to provide appropriate treatment, palliation and support to patients who are suffering from distressing symptoms (whether in the context of terminal illness or not). But, both for the guidance of doctors and for the protection of patients, the European Court has made the best decision.'
Steven Fouch (CMF Head of Communications) 020 7234 9668
Alistair Thompson on 07970 162 225
Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) was founded in 1949 and is an interdenominational organisation with over 5,000 doctors, 900medical and nursing students and 300 nurses and midwives as members in all branches of medicine, nursing and midwifery. A registered charity, it is linked to over 100 similar bodies in other countries throughout the world.
CMF exists to unite Christian healthcare professionals to pursue the highest ethical standards in Christian and professional life and to increase faith in Christ and acceptance of his ethical teaching.
