END-OF-LIFE DECISION-MAKING

That this House welcomes the Quality of Mercy report issued by the Voluntary Euthanasia Society; notes with concern the findings that 30 per cent. of those who assist in someone else's death in the United Kingdom go on to commit suicide; notes that there is a wide disparity between the penalties laid out in law and the number of prosecutions and sentences handed down; is concerned that unlike many other countries no formal research has been carried out into end-of-life decision-making in the United Kingdom; notes that members of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament have recently proposed that this issue should be researched and discussed in greater detail; and calls on the Government to carry out research into this issue as a matter of urgency.