{"id":11748,"date":"2021-09-09T16:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=11748"},"modified":"2023-01-22T14:34:07","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T22:34:07","slug":"editorial-assisted-dying-a-question-of-when-not-if","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=11748","title":{"rendered":"(Editorial) Assisted dying: a question of when, not if"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"richard-hurley-tessa-richards-fiona-godlee\">Richard Hurley, Tessa Richards, Fiona Godlee<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"172\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bmj.jpg\" alt=\"British Medical Journal, BMJ\" class=\"wp-image-11229\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">British Medical Journal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Extract<\/strong><br>Doctors\u2019 views on assisted dying are split, and most doctors\u2019 organisations take no position on the issue; a few\u2014including the BMA\u2014oppose legalisation. Their stance matters: lawmakers and judges regularly seek, and listen to, their views. The BMJ has called for the professions\u2019 representatives to take a position of neutrality\u2014neither in support nor opposition\u2014on the grounds that doctors should not obstruct a decision that is for society and parliament to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Engaged neutrality is far from an abdication of responsibility. It honours the diversity in professionals\u2019 opinion. We believe that it also enables organisations to facilitate and fully engage with much needed societal conversations about death and what it means to die well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neutral organisations can be closely involved in drafting laws and guidelines, which would be impossible if they opposed their existence. They can lobby for the interests of doctors who do not wish to participate, as well as of doctors who do. . . <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Hurley R, Richards T, Godlee F. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/374\/bmj.n2128\">(Editorial) Assisted dying: a question of when, not if<\/a>. Br. Med. J. 2021;374(2128)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Hurley, Tessa Richards, Fiona Godlee ExtractDoctors\u2019 views on assisted dying are split, and most doctors\u2019 organisations take no position on the issue; a few\u2014including the BMA\u2014oppose legalisation. Their stance matters: lawmakers and judges regularly seek, and listen to, their views. The BMJ has called for the professions\u2019 representatives to take a position of neutrality\u2014neither &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=11748\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;(Editorial) Assisted dying: a question of when, not if&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,554,14,881],"tags":[781,779,780],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-11748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assisted-suicide","category-ethics","category-euthanasia","category-journals-editorials","tag-fiona-godlee","tag-richard-hurley","tag-tessa-richards"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>(Editorial) Assisted dying: a 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