1500 doctors write to protest RCP plan to tacitly support assisted suicide
from SPUC:
“We are calling on the College to abandon this survey and instead, if it so desires, to conduct polling in the fair and democratic way it has approached previous polls on this issue.”
Nearly 1500 medics have signed an open letter opposing attempts by the Royal College of Physicians to drop its historic opposition to assisted suicide.
Last month, the RCP announced that it would poll its members on their position on assisted suicide – but said that it would automatically move to a “neutral” position unless a supra-majority of 60% vote for the College to remain opposed or switch to being in favour. In the last RCP poll, 58% of members opposed assisted suicide, and only 32% supported it.
“Undemocratic and unfair”
As of yesterday (Sunday 10 Feb) 1422 medics had signed a letter to Professor Andrew Goddard, President of the RCP, protesting this “undemocratic and unfair” way of framing the poll.
The medics write “to express our alarm at the way the Royal College of Physicians seem to have designed the up-coming poll of members’ views on assisted suicide. It seems perfectly clear that the survey has been designed to ensure the College drops its long-standing opposition to assisted suicide and move instead to a position of so called ‘neutrality’.”
They highlight how the College has been hijacked by the assisted suicide lobby, saying: “at a recent council meeting, a new default position of neutral was adopted prior to the announcement of the new poll, without any involvement of the wider membership. Sadly it seems the council may well be overly influenced by the presence of several prominent campaigners for assisted suicide.”
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