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Victory for woman in assisted suicide legal battle

BillieTheBotBillieTheBot Posts: 8,721 Bot
in Politics & Debate
Britian's highest court issued a historic judgment today that could finally remove the fear of prosecution from people who travel abroad to support relatives seeking an assisted suicide.

In a unanimous ruling, the law lords ordered the director of public prosecutions to immediately draw up a policy that would spell out when prosecutions would and would not be pursued.

The ruling was strongly in favour of Debbie Purdy, 46, who has multiple sclerosis and who has been fighting to protect her husband should he accompany her to a clinic in Switzerland that specialises in euthanasia. She had argued that the law was unclear and uncertainty surrounding the issue breached her human rights.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/30/debbie-purdy-assisted-suicide-judgement

A victory for common sense, I hope most people will agree.

Not surprisingly the Mail is already at battle stations mode with its 'Britain one step closer to legitimising assisted suicide' big font front page headline... Never mind that the law hasn't clarified yet what can or cannot be done and could actually go against the concept of assisted suicide :rolleyes:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Surely a chanmge in the law like this should be a matter for our elected representatives?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Its not even a change in the law, its guaranteeing that a clarification will be made in what effects the CPS in regards to bringing prosecutions on assisted suicide.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's not a change in the law. It's a ruling that the CPS should publish guidance on what they consider to be within the law and what they consider to be outside the law.

    It's common sense to have this clarification. It doesn't mean it will go in favour of those wanting to legalise euthanasia and assisted euthanasia.

    As for the debate around euthanasia itself, I'm sitting firmly on the fence. I'm pretty sure that I'd rather die than be reliant on someone else to wipe my backside every day, but I think that legalised euthanasia would lead to older and disabled people feeling pressurised into not being a 'burden', especially by greedy kids wanting the inheritance.
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