PC in the BMA

It was a Homer Simpson moment for the British Medical Association. At the end of its annual representative meeting on 30 June 2005, delegates voted to withdraw the organisation's firm and long-standing opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide. This leaves the world's most prestigious gathering of medical professionals in the absurd position of having no opinion on whether killing their patients is good or bad. Doh!...In the past few weeks, the BMA has thundered from Olympus on smoking bans in Scotland (courageous), third world disease ('indefensible'), junk food in schools ('madness') and discrimination by sexual orientation ('zero tolerance'). On issues that are not its core business, it speaks as the conscience of Britain. On the one issue in which it has literally the power of life and death, it has no opinion.