LONDON (AFP) — A woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis lost Wednesday a legal challenge over whether her husband could be prosecuted if he helps her to commit suicide. Wheelchair-bound Debbie Purdy, 45, launched the case earlier this month, asking the High Court in London to clarify the law on assisted suicide as her health is rapidly deteriorating. But Lord Justice Scott Baker said Wednesday that the law was clear, and while he had sympathy for Purdy only parliament could change the law.

“We cannot leave this case without expressing great sympathy for Ms Purdy, her husband and others in a similar position who wish to know in advance whether they will face prosecution,” said Baker.

But he added: “This would involve a change in the law. The offence of assisted suicide is very widely drawn to cover all manner of different circumstances; only parliament can change it.” Purdy, reacting outside the court, said she was “really disappointed” with the ruling and would take her case to the Court of Appeal.

“People need clarity, and I don’t feel any clarity. I hope the Court of Appeal will take a different view but, in the meantime, I’d like Parliament to take the judges’ hint to look at the law,” she said.

Purdy has said she plans “to live forever,” but if her condition becomes unbearable she wants to decide when she dies. She has joined Dignitas, the Swiss body which operates clinics where people can go to commit suicide. Her ability to carry out everyday tasks is rapidly diminishing, and she now lacks the strength to propel an ordinary wheelchair and has to use an electrically-operated model.

Prosecutors argued that the law does not require it to make a specific policy of the kind sought by Purdy. They argue that legislation governing suicide dating from 1961 is sufficient. The law makes aiding and abetting suicide punishable by up to 14 years in prison, in addition to existing special guidelines for prosecutors.

Purdy added: “I want politicians to debate what needs to be done because if people talk about needing safeguards, protecting the vulnerable, we have to know what is necessary to protect people.”  - AFP

Notes:
Assisted-suicide is the process by which an individual, who may otherwise be incapable, is provided with the means (drugs or equipment) to commit suicide. In some cases, the terms aid in dying or death with dignity are preferred. The term euthanasia is sometimes used in a broader sense, to include acts which are performed by people other than the patient, which do not involve the choice of the patient, or which involve passive withdrawal of life support. Assisted suicide is illegal in many legal jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom (where a bill to legalize it was voted down in 2006), but in others, eg, Belgium, Netherlands, Oregon (by the Oregon Death with Dignity Act), and Switzerland, there are circumstances in which it is permitted.  In England and Wales there is a possibility of up to 14 years imprisonment for anybody assisting a suicide. Oddly, suicide itself is not a crime. Suicide has never been illegal under Scotland’s laws. There is no Scots authority of whether it is criminal to help another to commit suicide, and this has never been tested in court. The killing of another at his own request is murder, as the consent of the victim is irrelevant in such a case. A person who assists another to take their own life, whether by giving advice or by the provision of the means of committing suicide, might be criminally liable on a number of other grounds such as: recklessly endangering human life, culpable homicide (recklessly giving advice or providing the means, followed by the death of the victim), or wicked recklessness.

- Passionate About Blogging

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