Teacher Yvette
Added2009-07-31 08:37:00
MS Woman Wins Right-To-Die Fight
 Thursday, 30 July 2009 18:56 UK A woman with multiple sclerosis has made legal history by winning her battle to have the law on assisted suicide clarified. Debbie Purdy wanted to know if her husband would be prosecuted if he helped her end her life in Switzerland. Five Law Lords ruled the Director of Public Prosecutions must specify when a person might face prosecution. Ms Purdy, 46, from Bradford, said she was "ecstatic" at the ruling and she had been given her life back. The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said he would publish an interim policy on when prosecutions could occur by September before putting the issue out to public consultation. Permanent policy will be published next spring. Ms Purdy said the Law Lords' decision was "a huge step towards a more compassionate law". "I'm ecstatic - I feel like I've been given a reprieve. "I want to live my life to the full but I don't want to suffer unnecessarily at the end of my life. "The decision means that I can make an informed choice, with Omar, about whether he travels abroad with me to end my life because we will know exactly where we stand." No one has been prosecuted for assisting someone's death, although the law says they could potentially face 14 years in prison. The House of Lords, the highest court in the land, said the law was not as clear and precise as it should be. Five Law Lords unanimously backed Ms Purdy's call for a policy statement from the Director of Public Prosecutions on when someone might face prosecution for helping a loved one end their life abroad. Ms Purdy said she would like to see the policy distinguish between "what is acceptable and what isn't" so people in situations like hers could make decisions about what to do. A spokesman from the Ministry of Justice said any change in the law was up to parliament. "In a free vote on the issue on 7 July, the House of Lords rejected an attempt to decriminalise assisted suicide in circumstances where terminally ill people are helped to travel to countries where assisting dying is lawful," he said. Note: Please see the interview of Debbie Purdy at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8177343.stm |