Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [HL]

My Lords, I should like to begin with a quote from Woody Allen, who said:"““I am not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens””." I share that view because dying is not for wimps. In the opening lines of her very charming novel, Miss Garnet’s Angel, Salley Vickers wrote:"““Death is outside of life, but it alters it. It leaves a hole in the fabric of things which those who are left behind try to repair””." Friends, families, doctors, nurses and bereavement counsellors know that all too well. Is it surprising, therefore, that doctors in palliative medicine, the very ones who are charged to participate in assisted suicide, are overwhelmingly against this Bill? They know that the way in which we die influences the difficult job of repair. According to the most recent survey, 94 per cent do not want legislation and only 3 per cent are prepared to be involved. Furthermore, young doctors, those training in this specialty, are totally against the Bill. Their representative is on record as saying:"““I am not aware of a single trainee who supports Lord Joffe’s Bill””." But what about those attending and the consulting physicians, those who are also required to be complicit? Well, not much enthusiasm is to be found there either. The Royal College of Physicians, using the question framed by the noble Lord, Lord Joffe, asked its members and fellows:"““Do you believe that a change in legislation is necessary for the small number of terminally ill patients for whom palliative care does not meet their needs?””." That question received a resounding answer: ““No””. This week the Royal College of General Practitioners issued a statement that the college is also opposed to any change in legislation, as has the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The most recent statement from the Royal College of Nursing is unequivocal:"““The Bill fails to provide sufficient safeguards. It is unworkable and it should be defeated””." These are the very people who value and cherish their professionalism, who understand that the most precious element they possess is the trust between their profession, the patient and the public. They recognise how this Bill erodes and corrodes the central tenet on which their very professionalism depends. We should value their commitment and support them in defeating this legislation. I want to respond briefly to the noble Viscount, Lord Craigavon. I am very disappointed that he should have so misunderstood the fine speech made by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay. I would urge him to do as I did and visit her and her inspirational service in Cardiff. I am sure he would then gain insight and a better understanding not only of the noble Baroness but of the hospice movement as a whole. Finally, I understand that in Switzerland at the Lausanne university teaching hospital, assisted suicide is now freely on offer to patients. I wonder what that does to young doctors, to those who enter the profession to treat and cure and who are now required to learn how to kill. What does that do to the confidence of patients, of whom some in this country are already fearful of being admitted to hospital due to MRSA and hospital-acquired infections. When they are at their most vulnerable and in strange surroundings, is it not possible that they may indeed feel they have a duty to die, not least to save the expense of keeping them alive? I support the amendment.