Recent interim guidelines on assisted suicide prosecution have been condemned by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dying Well. In their response to the consultation on the interim guidelines, the group expresses their fears that by listing factors against prosecution, it could be used as a basis for appealing against convictions if a case doesn’t exactly meet the suggested criteria. This ‘checklist’ approach would make it easier for those with bad motives to justify unlawful killing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6826479/Assisted-suicide-guidance-will-lead-to-legalised-killing-MPs-and-peers-warn.html

The Christian Medical Fellowship’s response to the consultation has been a mass boycott by members who fear a ‘slippery slope’ to legalising euthanasia without Parliamentary approval. The Fellowship, which represents 4,500 doctors, is concerned that publishing such guidelines would eventually lead to assisted suicide being made legal, as was the case in the Netherlands.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1235587/Christian-doctors-boycott-door-euthanasia.html