Thankfully, the American Medical Association has VOTED DOWN two motions which were attempting to change the AMA Code of Ethics in support of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. (First reported today by Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.)
This means that, for the present, the AMA will maintain their opposition to Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. (The motions were proposed at the AMA House of Delegates interim meeting in Maryland, November 10 - 14, 2023.)
The first motion proposed direct support for Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia while the second was the sneaky back-up. It proposed that the AMA become “Neutral” on the issue.
Everyone knows that a medical association becoming “neutral” on Assisted Suicide is simply ‘gaming the system’ , because anyone with half a brain knows that a doctor who is “neutral” on the question of killing patients, really is in favour of it. This ploy has been used successfully both in the Canadian and British Medical Associations.
This is great news for those opposing Assisted Suicide legislation in Ireland, Scotland, England/Wales, Mann, the Channel Islands, and other countries. It will also help Hippocratic doctors as they oppose changes in their local representative bodies.
Unfortunately this issue is likely to return to the table in the AMA but, for today, common sense prevailed!
Kevin Hay