The decision could be cited in legal cases or parliamentary debates. Currently, assisting or encouraging someone’s death is illegal under the Suicide Act of 1961.
It’s not the first time the 35,000 members have been asked about this issue.
In 2014, 44.4% of respondents thought the RCP should be opposed to assisted dying, 31% thought it should be neutral or have no stance and 24.6% opted for the RCP being in favour.
The significance of this poll however is that the RCP will adopt a position of ‘neutral’ until two-thirds of the membership vote either way.
Speaking to Premier, Steve Fouch from the Christian Medical Fellowship said: “It is helpful for the Royal Colleges to be able to say ‘we do represent the views of our members’ and it’s quite clear…that the majority of doctors still do not feel comfortable with being involved with assisted dying and would prefer there not to be a change in the law.”
Fouch added that evidence from other countries shows the issue becomes a slippery slope when the law is changed.
He said: “Our worry is once you start to remove the safeguards for one group of people and say, effectively, ‘these lives are not worth saving’ you inevitably get pressure to extend it to other groups of people”.
The poll will ask the following questions via email:
1. What should the RCP’s position be on whether or not there should be a change in the law to permit…
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