Member

This Bill is not a theoretical exercise. We have heard already that it is about real people in real distress at the most vulnerable point of their life. With great respect, I feel that the individual who is dying and is trying to make sense of what is happening to them has been overshadowed by hypothetical abstractions and overly complex arguments. To bring in an example that I am familiar with—the Royal College of GPs’ opt-in and opt-out—even I got confused when it was debated. My understanding, backed up by my recent conversations with the royal college, is that what it is saying is that the actual delivery of the assisted death should be voluntary—the moment when the person is in that place, wherever it is, or in their home. But GPs, like all health professionals, would continue to have a duty of care to support their patients, ensure appropriate referral to relevant services and have a sufficient understanding to be able to advise their patient about choices. This is not unusual. This is what we do across medicine, whether or not we provide the interventions ourselves. I do not provide open heart surgery, but I have an understanding of the principles of open heart surgery.