Nursing union no longer opposes assisted suicide

Published on Saturday 25 July 2009 00:30

THE Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has dropped its five-year opposition to the principle of assisted suicide after a consultation with its members.

Almost half of the RCN members who responded said they supported assisted suicide, while two out of five said they were against it.

The RCN has had a formal position to oppose assisted suicide since 2004, but today changed that to a neutral stance. It plans to issue detailed guidance to nurses on assisted suicide, after the consultation also revealed a need for information, although no time scale has been drawn up.

Chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: "Assisted suicide is a complicated issue, and this was reflected in the range and variety of responses that we received to our consultation."

He added: "The split in responses shows that there is no overwhelming support among nurses for either opposing or supporting a change in the law on assisted suicide.