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On 29 November 2001, Diane Pretty lost her appeal to the High Court asking
them to allow her husband to assist in her suicide. Her comment afterwards
was that 'she felt as if she had no rights'. She outlined her intention
to pursue those rights through the Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg.
Most of you will know the background to the case, but in case you don't
here it is, in brief. Diane Pretty suffers from Motor Neurone Disease
(MDN) and, during the course of her court cases, has come to the point
where she is paralysed from the neck up and has lost her power of speech.
The prognosis for the disease is that she will die from respiratory failure
and pneumonia. Her condition means that she is unable to commit suicide
herself. Doing the right thing, she took her case to court, asking for
an amnesty for her husband, should he assist in her suicide. It has been
clearly established that he has no other motive for doing this, other
than to support her decision.
I too have a dis/ability (more ability than not). I suffer from both
osteo and rheumatoid arthritis. As the osteo, in particular, is a progressive
disease, my prognosis is that eventually, it is likely that I will be
bedridden, and entirely dependent on others for my care.
A long time ago, I made the decision that, if it gets to the point where
I can't do anything, and have to lie there and let others care for my
bodily functions, I too would wish to take my own life.
I would not be making a judgement on the value, or otherwise of anybody
else's life in similar or worse situations, just on my own life.
What the decision by the High Court means for me, is that I may have
an element of choice taken away from me. Rather than ending my life when
I feel the time is right, I will have to make sure that I physically can
take my own life, which means it might be sooner than I would have wanted.
After the initial decision by the High Court, on 24 October 2001, Dr
Howitt-Wilson a spokesperson from ALERT (one of the organisations who
support the High Court's decision), said: 'I think she (Diane Pretty)
was misguided to think having her life ended in that way would be better
for her than dying naturally'.
He went on to say 'there have been awful stories of MDN sufferers dying
by choking, but this is totally untrue', he also suggests she seeks palliative
care.
Excuse me, Dr. Howitt-Wilson, but who are you to decide for Diane as
to whether her decision is right or wrong? And what does respiratory failure
and pneumonia mean, except dying by choking?
I also saw another spokesperson from ALERT on the TV after the appeal
decision on 29th November 2001. She was disabled, and said that she felt
that the decision by the court was right, because any other decision would
mean that hers, and other people with disabilities lives would be judged
as useless and valueless.
I'm sorry, but I believe she is wrong. Diane Pretty is only making a
judgment about her life - not others. Other arguments against assisted
suicide have also been made along these lines: that it would open the
gates for people to 'bump off their unwanted relatives,' or to perpetrate
abuse against other groups of vulnerable people.
It seems to me that these are nefarious arguments. While it is correct
that decisions in law can set a precedent, it is also true that
one-off decisions are just that, one-off decisions, and that other cases
of a similar nature should be judged on their merits.
It seems to me that one of the key difficulties with the case, and in
making a societal decision as to whether it should be judged on its own
merits or not, is that in our society, death is still a taboo subject.
But if people like myself and Diane Pretty are to be allowed to die with
the dignity we would wish, then society needs to have an open debate,
so that unnecessary suffering and the prolonging of life, against the
individual's wishes, do not occur.
It has always seemed odd to me, that, on one of the endless programmes
about vets or rescue animals you hear them saying, 'it's kinder to put
them down', when as a society we are not even able to discuss following
someone's wishes to end their own life, at the time when it's right for
them.
Posted: 9 Jan, 2002
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