The 1961 Suicide Act of the UK makes it an offense for anyone to “aid, abet, counsel or procure the suicide of another.” The penalty for doing so is a jail term of up to 14 years. Because of this, assisted suicide is illegail in Britain.
But what exactly is meant by the term “assisted suicide”? Simplistically this refers to a situation where the person who is going to die needs help to end his life, and he asks for such help. Such help can be rendered, for example, by getting certain drugs that can cause death, and leaving such drugs within reach of the person dying. So we can say that assisted suicide refers to a situation where a person would be provided with the means of committing suicide and then would personally perform the act.
Assisted suicide differs from euthanasia in that in the case of euthanasia, the life terminating act is done by another person instead of by the dying person himself.
Although assisted suicide is illegal in Britain, yet so far nobody has been prosecuted for doing so. Many terminally ill persons in Britain have taken a flight to Switzerland where there is a legal assisted suicide clinic to help them terminate their lives.
Among those who have made the trip to Switzerland to die in assisted suicide were world renown 85-year old British orchestra conductor Sir Edward Downes and his terminally ill 74-year old wife, Lady Downes.
The case of Daniel James who was paralyzed in an accident during a university ruby match is noteworthy. He chose to make the journey to Switzerland to die in an assisted suicide. His parents were with him to provide such assistance.
Last December, the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer decided that it would not be in the public’s interest to prosecute the parents despite “sufficient evidence” to do so. This decision appears to be the first step towards sanctioning assisted suicide in Britain and it immediately resulted in calls for more clarity on when prosecution will or will not take place in similiar situations.
Now Keir Starmer has released guidelines on this subject. Under these guidelines, prosecution would be less likely where the person wishing to die had a terminal illness and where he had a “clear, settled and informed wish” to die. Also the helper in his assisted suicide must be a spouse or a close relative.
However prosecution would be more likely if the helper in the assisted suicide is not motivated by compassion but stands to profit financially from the person’s death. Prosecution is also likely if the dying person is a minor.
Keir Starmer sums it up neatly this way: “The key is motivation. Is the motivation that of a compassionate spouse or other relative, or that of someone who stands to gain from the death of another person?” And he added: “This policy does not in any way permit euthanasia.”
Keir Starmer ended with these words: ”Assisted suicide has been a criminal offence for nearly 50 years and my interim policy does nothing to change that.”
But not everyone agrees with him on this. Phyllis Bowman, executive officer of Right To Life said: “However much he has tried to cloak it, his guidelines outline an interim policy which in effect will make it legal to assist in a suicide.”
Agreeing, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, a former Lord Chancellor and the first Justice Secretarysaid that Keir Starmer had “unquestionably changed the law”.
Think about it. The guidelines now go for public consultations. It will be interesting to see what the British people think about this whole issue of assisted suicide. Do you have a right to end your own life? And should others have a right to assist you in an assisted suicide situation? What is life anyway? You only got one life. Is it too valuable to end?
Earlier posts
Assisted Suicide
Have You Been Thinking Of Your Own Death?
Suicide
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