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MPs win right to a free vote over 'suicide clinics' abroad
Joe Murphy, Political Editor20 Mar 2009
THE Commons was today given a free vote on moves towards making assisted suicide legal.
Downing Street said Gordon Brown did not personally favour a new law but would not stand in the way of other MPs.
But his stance creates a threat of chaos if the vote is passed because campaigners aim to amend a government Bill to make it lawful to help people leave the country to attend so-called suicide clinics.
If passed, ministers would in theory have to resign if they felt they could not support the Bill with the amendment.
"We believe that any change in the law in this area is a matter for individual MPs and for Parliament to decide," a No10 spokesman said.
Former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is leading the debate on assisted suicide with cross-party backing. She put down an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that would stop people being prosecuted for taking relatives abroad to die. Until today it was not expected to be pushed to a vote.
Ms Hewitt went further this morning by saying she aimed to launch a Private Member's Bill to make assisted suicide legal in the UK.
"In the long term we need a Bill to change the law to allow terminally ill people who are mentally competent the choice of an assisted death," she said.
She said she had been "troubled for several years" by the plight of suffering people who felt stripped of dignity and choice in their final years.
The current law, which Mr Brown supports, is under pressure because prosecutors are reluctant to take action against grieving families.
Reader views (7)
If it is not illegal to commit suicide then why do we insist that a person who requires help to take their OWN LIFE are stopped from doing so?
I would hope that even those who quote from their holy books would show compassion for the person wishing to take their own life but unable to do so because of their physical condition.
Medicine has advanced greatly but in some cases this merely means that some people live longer but with no quality of life at all.
- Mike Melbourne, Bedford England, 21/03/2009 11:27
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NO, to assised suicide.Not only is it contrary to Gods law,there may be a cure for the ailment but family pressure would cause the person to suicide to keep the peace.
- Bernie, romford,eng, 21/03/2009 01:45
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3 score and ten, its somewhere in the Bible. Unless the Drug companies can prove different and suspend God's word, then there comes a time when someone who has had a good life and who is now in pain should have the final word. In life we chose the right or wrong road. Facing death we still should have the choice. Why should the Government say when we can die. My body, My mind, My life. My death.
- Bondy, London, 20/03/2009 17:50
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I agree we should be allowed to choose - and if we ask loving relatives to help they should be protected. We can do this before we become very ill or very old.
What is the matter with people - they are so terrified of dying (usually people with so-called faith) that they wont let others leave this world when they are in pain. I took a beloved animal for euthanasia it was so gentle but I've seen humans really suffering at the end in OUR HOSPITALS!!
- Ella, Edinburgh, 20/03/2009 17:33
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When are the government going to stop nannying - if someone has the mental capacity to determine if they want to live or die then facilities should be made available to allow them to do this in their own country. Whilst physically able terminally ill patients can travel to Switzerland (how undignified is that) it must surely be discriminatory to prevent those with a physical disability but mental capacity the same right to travel to Switzerland with assistance.
- Andy, London, 20/03/2009 13:25
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About time someone did.
- Mark Boyd, Durham, 20/03/2009 11:22
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The way I look at it, any normally able-bodied person is able to commit suicide (and I expect knowing this makes it possible for some to live day by day in the face of almost but not quite intolerable pain).
If terminal illness has removed someone's ability to commit suicide, it should not be a crime to return that ability. BUT NO FURTHER. The final act - swallowing pills, pressing a button - should never be taken by anyone else. And the law must continue to protect a terminally ill person from anyone encouraging him to end his life.
Helping a sick person to travel to Switzerland should never be considered a crime. Who can say the person might not change his mind after arriving? It's not assisting suicide, it's assisting a sick person to exercise his legal right as a free man to travel outside the UK.
- Nigel, London, 20/03/2009 11:19
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