A mutiple sclerosis sufferer’s loss in the British High Court has shifted the debate over euthanasia to lawmakers, with an appeal for a clearer and updated law.
MS Sufferer Loses Bid for Clarification
Seeking clarification on the fate of her husband should he accompany her to a Swiss clinic to pursue an assisted suicide, Purdy appealed to the British High Court, which ultimately found that the lack of a clear answer did not impose on Purdy’s human rights.
Expressing sympathy for her plight, the court’s judges stated that their role was only to interpret the law and not offer any changes that might help Purdy.
“This would involve a change in the law. The offence of suicide is very widely drawn to cover all manner of different circumstances; only Parliament can change it,” Lord Justice Scott Baker told The Times of London.
Her bid for clairification came after it became clear that her husband of 10 years could face up to 14 years for aiding or counseling her under current British law, should he return to the United Kingdom after her passing.
While Purdy has no plans to immediately pursue an assisted suicide, she has expressed her intention to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland should her condition become unbearable.
The clinic, which has been linked to virtually all known British assisted suicides, has helped 101 British citizens end their lives in the last five years.
The death of the clinic’s most recent British patient, Daniel James, resulted in an investigation into his family’s role.
Dan James, who played for the England Universities rugby team and the England Students team, was paralyzed from the chest down when his spine collapsed during an accident in a training session in 2007.
His parents, Julie and Mark James, said in a statement that Dan’s death was "no doubt a welcome relief from the ‘prison’ he felt his body had become and the day-to-day fear and loathing of his living existence."