Dr. Andrea Mulligan:

Exactly. There is a really important interaction there with the assisted decision-making legislation, which is about a functional test for capacity. It would say that even if a person even fluctuates in capacity, he or she has capacity at certain times in respect of certain decisions. You are always supposed to apply a situation-specific test. That is the test under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act. Logically applying that, you would say that if the person has the flash of capacity, then the person can make the decision. Again, that would be a very tricky question of reconciling those two legislative regimes and we must have huge safeguards there. Ultimately, the doctors and the people involved are going to be very antsy about ever administering assisted suicide to a person who may or may not want it. They may never feel comfortable with that. There is a side note that it is possible doctors will not feel comfortable doing it at all.