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Poll Reveals 3/4 of UK Respondents Oppose Withdrawal of Food and Water

LONDON, May 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – More than three-quarters of the UK public believe patients who are unable to communicate should be able to receive food and water by tube if they have asked in advance, a survey has revealed.

Last month, the UK parliament under Labour rule enacted the Mental Capacity Bill allowing the nomination of an individual to have legal power of attorney, who would make decisions about whether to withdraw food or fluids from a terminally ill patient.

The survey, conducted by Capibus for the doctors' action group, First Do No Harm – formed to oppose the current campaign for euthanasia and the reformulation of the Hippocratic Oath – asked 1,000 adults the question: “The new mental capacity act allows doctors or people with ‘lasting power of attorney’ to end the lives of patients who are not dying but can’t speak for themselves, by withdrawing food and water if they need to be given by tube. If the patient has asked in advance to continue to receive food and fluid, should doctors or those with power of attorney have the right to ignore the patient’s request?”

Seventy seven percent of respondents said that physicians or those with legal power of attorney should not have the right to refuse food or fluids.

In the wake of pro-life backlash against the new bill, the Labour Party, heading into the election, promised new money for palliative care of the terminally ill. SPUC General Secretary Paul Tully, commenting on the move said, “The new law, the Mental Capacity Act, will sanction the deaths of thousands of patients by withholding assisted nutrition and hydration. These patients will die of thirst - which takes about two weeks. In this context, promising extra cash for palliative care smacks of conscience money. It is profoundly hypocritical to appeal to some (possibly) terminally ill patients in this fashion.”

First Do No Harm points out on its web site that, in the Hippocratic Oath, a doctor promises: “The health of my patient will be my first consideration.”

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