My name is Geraldine McClelland and I have chosen to die today [7 December]. I am 61 years old and am dying from lung and liver cancer, which metastasised from my breast cancer two years ago. The lung cancer is now causing me serious breathing problems, meaning I am largely confined to my flat. I have chosen to travel abroad to die because I can not have the death I want here in the UK. I would like to be able to choose to take medication to end my life if my suffering becomes unbearable for me, at home, with my family and friends around me. But the law in this country prevents me from doing so. As a result I am travelling abroad to take advantage of Switzerland's compassionate law.
“The current legal status of assisted dying is inadequate and incoherent...” The Commission on Assisted Dying was set up in September 2010 to consider whether the current legal and policy approach to assisted dying in England and Wales is fit for purpose. In addition to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the legal status quo, the Commission also set out to explore the question of what a framework for assisted dying might look like, if such a system were to be implemented in the UK, and what approach to assisted dying might be most acceptable to health and social care professionals and to the general public.
A man who was virtually paralysed by a stroke has won the first step in his legal bid to pursue his right-to-die. Known only as Martin, he would require professionals to help as his wife has said she will not assist him. But current guidance suggests they may be prosecuted, where loved ones would not, and Martin's case is this discriminates against him. This High Court judgement means lawyers and doctors can discuss assisted dying with him, but only to prepare his case.
The Commission on Assisted Dying, set up in September 2010 and chaired by former Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer, has issued its monumental report on assisted dying in England and Wales. The Commission was funded by two supporters of assisted suicide, author Terry Pratchett and businessman Bernard Lewis, and despite reassurances that the running and outcome of the Commission were independent, some individuals and groups opposed to the practice regrettably refused to give evidence to the Commission. Still, the range and quantity of the evidence, which included evidence gathered from international research visits, qualitative interviews and focus groups, commissioned papers, and seminars, is impressive and can be read and watched here.
Last week, the European Court of Human Rights decided in the case of Haas v. Switzerland (judgment in French only) that the right to private life is not violated when a state refuses to help a person who wishes to commit suicide by enabling that person to obtain a lethal substance. The applicant in the case, Ernst Haas, had for two decades been suffering from a serious bipolar affective disorder (more commonly known as manic depression). During that time he attempted to commit suicide twice. Later, he tried to obtain a medical prescription for a small amount of sodium pentobarbital, which would have allowed him to end his life without ain or suffering. Not a single psychiatrist, of the around 170 (sic!) he approached, was willing to give him such a prescription. This would have been necessary, under Swiss law, which allowed for assisted suicide if it was not done for selfish motives (in the opposite case, the person assisting could be prosecuted under the criminal code).
Guidance for the Investigation Committee and case examiners when considering allegations about a doctor’s involvement in encouraging or assisting suicide. Draft for consultation Start: Feb 6, 2012 End: May 4, 2012 Results Published: Jul 31, 2012
The General Medical Council is launching its first ever guidelines on assisted suicide. The new guidelines will help the GMC decide if doctors should face a disciplinary panel if they are alleged to have encouraged or assisted suicide. A draft version is to be subject to a three month public consultation period. The GMC's chief executive, Niall Dickson said "the main message is that assisting suicide is illegal and doctors should have no part of it". The GMC, which is the regulatory authority for doctors, decided to produce the guidelines after the case of a severely paralysed man, which was highlighted by the BBC last summer. The man, given the pseudonym "Martin", told the PM Programme that he wanted to end his life and was taking legal action to try to get advice and help to do so.
Il est normal qu'en période électorale les sujets de société s'invitent dans les programmes des candidats. Il est en revanche toujours regrettable que, sur ces sujets majeurs qui engagent notre vision des équilibres humains, les propositions mélangent le flou et l'improvisation. Cette situation est clairement dangereuse lorsqu'il s'agit de notre conception de la fin de vie et de la mort. M. Hollande propose que "toute personne majeure [en fin de vie] puisse demander, dans des conditions précises et strictes, à bénéficier d'une assistance médicalisée pour terminer sa fin de vie dans la dignité." Le Parti socialiste a évoqué "un pas vers l'euthanasie", bien que le terme ne soit pas mentionné. L'euthanasie signifie la possibilité ouverte de donner la mort à un malade qui le réclame. Est-ce cela que souhaite M. Hollande . Si c'est le cas, pourquoi, une fois de plus, ne pas le dire clairement ? "Un pas vers l'euthanasie", c'est l'euthanasie.
Today's sentencing of a 50-year-old Mt Nebo man to three years' jail for assisting the suicide of an elderly friend is a significant milestone in Queensland's criminal legal history, a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) law expert has said. Associate Professor Ben White said Merin Nielsen was the first person in Queensland to be convicted of assisting a suicide. He was convicted of assisting the suicide of 76-year-old Brisbane man, Frank Ward, who died in 2009 after taking the drug Nembutal which Mr Nielsen procured for him in Mexico. In the Supreme Court this morning Justice Jean Dalton ruled Nielsen would serve six months of the three year sentence in prison. "The case will be used in future by judges considering how they should sentence similar cases," Professor White said. "It will be significant not only in Queensland but also in sentencing nationally as there are only relatively few cases of this type in Australia."
Assisted death and voluntary euthanasia have received significant and sustained media attention in recent years. High-profile cases of people seeking assistance to end their lives have raised, at least in the popular press, debate about whether individuals should be able to seek such assistance at a time when they consider their suffering to be unbearable or their quality of life unsatisfactory. Other recent developments include a number of attempts to legislate on the issue by the minor parties in Australia and the successful enactment of legislation in a few overseas jurisdictions. However, despite all of the recent attention that has focused on assisted death and voluntary euthanasia, a discussion of the adequacy of existing laws has not made it onto the political agenda of any of the Australian State or Territory governments. This is in spite of the fact that the private views of the majority of our elected Members of Parliament may be supportive of reform. ...
The Claimant seeks three declarations, namely: i) A declaration that it would not be unlawful, on the grounds of necessity, for Mr Nicklinson's GP, or another doctor, to terminate or assist the termination of Mr Nicklinson's life. ii) Further or alternatively, a declaration that the current law of murder and/or of assisted suicide is incompatible with Mr Nicklinson's right to respect for private life under Article 8, contrary to sections 1 and 6 Human Rights Act 1998, in so far as it criminalises voluntary active euthanasia and/or assisted suicide. iii) Further or alternatively, a declaration that existing domestic law and practice fail adequately to regulate the practice of active euthanasia (both voluntary and involuntary), in breach of Article 2.
Le Ministère public neuchâtelois ne fera pas recours contre l’ancien médecin cantonal Daphné Berner, jugée à la fin de l’an dernier pour euthanasie active. Même s’il n’est pas entièrement convaincu par les motifs retenus par le Tribunal de police, il souligne que l’acquittement n’a été prononcé qu’en raison de circonstances très particulières.
Neuchâtel, 27.03.2012 (FSO) – The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) is presenting statistical results on assisted suicide for the first time. These cover the period from 1998 to 2009. During this period the number of Swiss residents who died as a result of assisted suicide rose steadily. In 2009, the number was nearly 300, which corresponds to 4.8 per 1000 deaths. There are no corresponding data for the period prior to 1998.
RAPSI spoke with Penney Lewis, a law professor at King’s College London and expert on end-of-life issues. Lewis explained that “There aren't any current legislative proposals (being considered by the legislature) although debates are held in the House of Commons on the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) policy on assisted suicide.” Lewis is critical of the DPP’s current policy due to its failure to include any reference to a patient’s condition or experience on the basis of discrimination concerns, its preferential treatment of amateur rather than medically assisted suicide, and its focus on the motives of the suspect rather than those of the patient.