Suicide bill report "inconclusive, unsatisfactory, requires close analysis", says SPUC

Westminster, 4 April 2005 - The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), a member of the Campaign Against Euthanasia www.euthanasia-no.org has described today's report on the legalisation of assisted suicide and active voluntary euthanasia as inconclusive, unsatisfactory and requiring close analysis.

Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, commented: "The report on the Joffe Bill is inconclusive in that it neither endorses nor rejects the legalisation of assisted suicide and active voluntary euthanasia, nor recommends whether or not Lord Joffe's deceptively-named Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill should proceed. Such indecision is unsatisfactory, in that the report does not explicitly uphold the recommendation of the 1994 Lords' committee which considered these issues. The 1994 House of Lords select committee on medical ethics recommended that assisted suicide and active euthanasia should not be legalised because they are contrary to one of the cornerstones of our civilisation, namely, the prohibition on the intentional killing of the innocent. In the light of today's report, the 1994 committee's recommendation stands and should be regarded as the definitive view of the House of Lords. We will be issuing further commentary upon the report following the close analysis that it requires."

Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, can be contacted on +44 (0)7949 177683 or (0)20 7222 5845.