Evidence submission from anonymous (334)

THE COMMISSION ON ASSISTED DYING:
PUBLIC CALL FOR EVIDENCE

Evidence from:
Name: Anonymous
This document is a public call for evidence by the Commission on Assisted Dying to seek evidence from members of the public regarding: • What system, if any, should exist to allow people to be • The circumstances under which it should be possible for • Who should be entitled to be assisted to die • What safeguards should be put in place to ensure that vulnerable people are neither abused nor pressured to choose an assisted death • What changes in the law, if any, should be introduced. In this document the following definitions will be used: Assisted suicide
Providing someone with the means to end his or her own life.
Voluntary euthanasia
A doctor ending a person’s life at his or her own request.
Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence Assisted dying
A compendium that can refer to voluntary euthanasia and/or
assisted suicide.
THE LAW ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
According to the Suicide Act 1961, encouraging or assisting a suicide
is a crime punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment. However, the
recently published Crown Prosecution Service ‘Policy for
Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Encouraging or Assisting
Suicide’i has provided clarification on which factors would make the
prosecution of somebody who assists a suicide more or less likely.
For example, the guidance has made it clear that if the person assisting the suicide was ‘wholly motivated by compassion’ their prosecution is less likely to be in the public interest. The guidance has also specified that doctors or other medical professionals who assist somebody to commit suicide are more likely to be prosecuted for their actions than family members or friends who provide such assistance. Please give your opinion in response to the following questions, including any evidence or personal experience that supports your view: 1. Do you think that it is right that in certain circumstances, the DPP can decide not to prosecute a person who assists another person to commit suicide? 2. Is it right that it is currently illegal for a healthcare professional to assist somebody to commit suicide and that a Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence healthcare professional is more likely to be prosecuted for providing assistance than a friend or family member? I do not think it right to prosecute anyone who is helping someone to die AT THEIR OWN REQUEST, either then or in advance by way of a living will. 3. Does the DPP policy currently provide sufficient safeguards to 4. Do you think that any further clarification of the DPP policy is needed? Or has the DPP policy already gone too far? 5. Do you think there should be change in the law to create a legal framework that would allow some people to be assisted to die in certain circumstances? Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence ELIGIBILITY AND SAFEGUARDS
The following questions seek to explore the question: if some form
of assisted dying were to be legalised, who should be able to access
assistance and what safeguards would be needed to protect
vulnerable people? Please give your opinion in response to the
following questions, including any evidence or personal experience
that supports your view:
The 2005 Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill sought to provide access to an assisted death only for those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, who have mental capacity, who are experiencing unbearable suffering and are over the age of 18. 6. If some form of assisted dying were to be legalised, who do you think should be eligible for assistance? Please refer to the briefing document for a more detailed discussion of eligibility criteria used in previous draft legislation in the UK and in foreign jurisdictions. Those who ask for it when they do so with a sound mind - even if they 7. If some form of assisted dying were to be legalised, what safeguards would be required to protect vulnerable people? Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence Safeguards that exist in some other jurisdictions include: the person must initiate the request for an assisted death him/herself; the person should be aware of alternative options for pain and symptom relief and palliative care; the person should be referred for counselling if it is suspected that they are suffering from a psychological disorder; and the decision to assist must be agreed by two independent doctors. Please see the Demos briefing paper for further discussion of potential safeguards that could be included in legislation. It must only be at the request of the person involved or their 8. What do you think are the main risks (both to individuals and to society) that would be associated with legalising any form of assisted dying? I don't think are that many risks if the paramount objective is the a. If some form of assisted dying were to be legalised, who do you think should make the decision on whether somebody who requests an assisted death should be eligible for assistance? b. Should this decision be made by doctors, by an independent judicial body such as a tribunal, or by another type of organisation? Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence Perhaps a guardian ad litem could be appointed who is able to take into account the previous history and wishes of the person involved. THE ROLE OF DOCTORS AND END OF LIFE CARE
These questions explore how, if some form of assisted dying were to
be legalised, doctors might be involved in facilitating assisted dying,
and how assisted dying might work within the existing framework
of end of life care. Please give your opinion in response to the
following questions, including any evidence or personal experience
that supports your view:
10. If some form of assisted dying were to be legalised, should doctors be able to take a role in assisting those who request assistance to die? a. If yes, what actions should doctors be able to take? b. If no, please explain your reasoning. Yes, they can take a role if the person who wishes to die (or their spokesperson) requests it. The doctors should be allowed to provide the drugs required to end life, either to be self administered or to be administered by a nominated other person, e.g. the doctor or a friend who has agreed in 11. If some form of assisted dying were to be legalised, what provisions would be required to protect doctors and other healthcare professionals who are ethically opposed to assisted dying? There should be an opt out clause, in the same way as those against abortion are not required to be involved. Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence 12. Could assisted dying have a complementary relationship to end of life care or are these two practices in conflict? These two things are different aspects of the same process and, therefore, are not in conflict. 13. If the law was to be changed to permit some form of assisted dying, what forms of assistance should be permitted? Should assisted suicide be permitted? Should voluntary euthanasia be permitted? (Please see the definitions above). Voluntary euthanasia should be permitted. 14. Should those who wish to be assisted to die, but are physically unable to end their own lives, receive assistance to die? If yes, Yes, they should be allowed whatever help is necessary to achieve their ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Commission on Assisted Dying: Call for Evidence 15. Please include here any further comments, evidence or personal experience that you would like the commission to consider: I wish to be able to end my own life when the quality has deteriorated below acceptable levels. It should be me who decides what those levels are. Unless I have the means to end my life when I wish I may well have to take a decision prematurely to ensure that I can achieve my objective. With the means in the cupboard (a la Viagra) I will be able to be far more relaxed and less in need to act. I do see dying as an important part of life, it is the last frontier, and I would wish to remain compos mentis and able to know what is happening to me. It is not pain I fear (though I have a healthy respect for its ravages) but the way extended caring for a loved one beyond meaningful life causes stress and lasting havoc within families and carers. See the soon to be published book "Keeping Mum" i ‘Policy for Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Encouraging or Assisting Suicide’ available at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/assisted_suicide_policy.html

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