§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the implications for their policy of opposition to euthanasia of: (a) the recent document Withholding and Withdrawing Life Prolonging Medical Treatment, produced by the British Medical Association; (b) those sections of the Incapable Adults (Scotland) Bill recently introduced into the Scottish Parliament providing for the definition of assisted food and fluid as treatment; and (c) the differentiation made in correspondence from the Minister for Public Health between the withdrawal of medical treatment (including assisted hydration and nutrition) from a patient who is unable to make his or her own decisions and the withdrawal of assisted nutrition and hydration from patients in persistent vegetative state. [HL4486]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThese have no implications for the Government's policy of complete opposition to euthanasia.