How do you make assisted suicide safe? In recent months, a large part of Kim Leadbeater’s answer has been to point to the involvement of psychiatrists. Having a psychiatrist sign off each death, Leadbeater said, would ‘add expertise’. They would be part of a much-touted ‘multidisciplinary’ approach. In particular, they would be able to check that applicants met the threshold of the Mental Capacity Act.
There’s just one problem. The psychiatrists themselves appear to think Leadbeater’s bill is a dangerous mess.
I’m paraphrasing, of course. But last night’s statement from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, in which they identified nine major problems with the legislation and said they ‘cannot support’ it, is a major blow to the bill’s credibility.
For one thing, it is a reminder of the amateurishness which has been such a mark of this whole saga. Originally, Leadbeater’s bill required a High Court judge to sign off every case. She dropped that requirement under pressure from the Ministry of Justice, who told her it was unworkable.
The replacement system, an ‘expert panel’, has no judges, and none of
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