This February the Royal College of Physicians surveyed its 35 000 members to enquire whether they wished to change their opposition to assisted dying to a neutral stance. Five years ago, 44% of members voted against and only 25% in favour of assisted dying (the rest were neutral). The result of this survey will be available in March this year. Assisted dying is currently prohibited under the Suicide Act of 1961. Members of Parliament decisively rejected a bill in 2015 that would have allowed terminally ill patients with fewer than six months to live to be provided with assistance, provided that there were certain legal safeguards, to proceed to assisted suicide. However, recent polling evidence suggests that more than three quarters of the public are now in favour of assisted dying. The House of Lords ruled in 2009 that the Director of Public Prosecutions should specify exactly when a person might be prosecuted for assisting someone to end their own life. Their concern was to differentiate between compassionate assistance and malicious pressure, possibly for fiduciary gain. Despite the fact that the then Director of Public Prosecutions established a committee to establish guidelines for dealing with these tragic circumstances, the situation still remains unclear.
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