BMA meeting: Doctors vote against protecting relatives who accompany people abroad for help with dying

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2699

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Deborah Cohen

¹BMJ

BMA representatives have narrowly voted not to support legislation that would ensure that people accompanying a patient at an assisted death will not be subject to criminal prosecution.

Next week (Tuesday 7 July) the House of Lords will vote on an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill, which, if passed, would make it legal for relatives to help mentally competent adults who are terminally ill to travel abroad for assisted suicide.

Kailash Chand, a GP in Manchester, argued that the law must be defined and made unambiguous to protect the rights of terminally ill people. “We must also …