Christian group calls on peers to ignore Debbie Purdy euthanasia request
The Law Lords will decide whether Euthanasia laws need clarifying later.
MS Sufferer, Debbie Purdy, is back in court asking whether her husband will be prosecuted if he travels with her to die in Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
The 45 year-old lost a judicial review last October on the issue and today’s judgment, by a panel of five senior Law Lords, will be a vital moment for campaigners for assisted suicide.
Ms Purdy has suggested that she may travel to Switzerland to take a lethal dose of barbiturates prescribed by doctors at the controversial Dignitas organisation.
She wants her husband, Omar Puente, to be at her side when she dies and wants to be confident he will not be arrested upon his return. He could potentially face 14 years in prison.
More than 100 UK citizens have so far ended their lives at Dignitas, and no one who has accompanied them has ever been prosecuted on their return to the UK.
Anthony Ozimic, from Christian pro-life group SPUC which is taking part in the case today, said the campaign for legalising assisted suicide has been running for many years. He said:
“The voluntary Euthanasia society, who have now repackaged themselves as Dignity in Dying are now trying many different ways to get assisted suicide and voluntary Euthanasia legalised in Britain.
“They failed recently in the House of Lords; an amendment to allow greater scope for assisted suicide was rejected. They failed in the British Medical association at their annual meeting. They have been continuing for many years a court campaign to try to undermine the right to life.”
Mary Corrigan is a Christian who also suffers with MS. She says she’s concerned of the knock on effect if Ms Purdy’s appeal is successful. She said:
“For people who have little love in their life and who know that they are disabled and feel suicidal, unscrupulous family will pressure them to go and put an end to it. I think it’s very dangerous.”
If Ms Purdy is not successful today, her only option will be to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights. Ms Purdy was diagnosed with primary progressive MS in March 1995. She can no longer walk and is gradually losing strength in her upper body.
Tags: Law Moral Ethical