Time to legalise assisted dying?: BMA should take an active role, whatever that may be

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7520.841-b

BMJ 2005;331:841 (8 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7520.841-b

Letter

Time to legalise assisted dying?

BMA should take an active role, whatever that may be

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Delamothe said: "Any mention of euthanasia in theBMJ seems to precipitate a barrage of criticism from opponentsof a change in the law that drowns out the messages of support.Do the opponents have more, or better, arguments than the supportersof a change in the law? Are they more numerous, better organised,or just noisier?"¹ This is indeed a worry, and many discussionsabout euthanasia which I have attended often entail proponentswho are pro-euthanasia being labelled Nazis, which is neitherhelpful nor true.

Opponents are not necessarily more organised or armed with betterarguments, and I speak as an opponent to a change in the law.In my experience, opponents often simply use the Nazi card,evoking a purely emotive image with little basis on reasoning.

However, in such discussions, it does not help that the BMAdecided to drop its opposition to the legalisation . . . [Full text of this article]

Michael G Peckitt, university tutor

c/o Philosophy Department, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX M.G.Peckitt@phil.hull.ac.uk