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Assisted Dying

My Lords, the onus of proof in this grave and weighty matter lies on those who seek to bring about assisted suicide. It is not a matter for public opinion any more than is the death penalty, and the case of those who seek the legitimisation of assisted suicide is riddled with fallacies. The first is the fallacy that the DPP is in some way in a neutral position. He is not. Under the Suicide Act 1961, he is obliged to give his consent to any prosecution. That does not mean that he is entitled, nor indeed obliged, to seek to change the law, but that is practically what he is now almost invited to do. The next fallacy is that one can proceed down the path of legitimising assisted suicide but not eventually lead to the issue of euthanasia, whether that be voluntary or involuntary. The noble Lord, Lord Carlile, has already referred to the ravings of Martin Amis in this connection. The final fallacy is that you can in some way determine this matter by a public inquiry. We have had a surfeit of public inquiries and all the facts are well known. If you set up a royal commission to deal with the ethical and moral matters, you are then in even greater difficulty; you might as well set up a royal commission to determine doctrinal theology.