Today the Court of Appeal ruled on two "right to die" cases and came down on very different sides of each argument. Paul Lamb and the family of the late Tony Nicklinson lost their case, which centered on whether the High Court, in its original decision, was right to rule that only Parliament can decide whether the law on assisted dying should change rather than asking judges to make that decision. The other case, brought by a man known only as "Martin", was seeking clearer guidance on whether a doctor or nurse travelling with him to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland would be prosecuted; the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had previously issued guidance that if a friend or family member escorted a person to Switzerland they would not be prosecuted - "Martin" wants similar explicit clarification relating to medical staff and he won his case today when the Court ruled that the DPP does need to issue this guidance. Needless to say, both the DPP, Paul Lamb and Tony Nicklinson's family have all decided to appeal...
This is a heck of an emotive issue and I don't profess to be any sort of expert in any of this. That said, I really do think it's high time we as a country - Joe Public, politicians and courts alike - faced up to the fact this issue is not going anywhere anytime soon. Terry Pratchett made an absolutely stunning documentary about it, which I thought might give people the kick up the arse they needed, but alas no. We are still burying our collective heads in the sand and willing it to go away because frankly it's too horrible a thought to contemplate.
Actually I agree with that. It is a horrible thought to contemplate, whichever side of the fence you're sitting on. I agree with the Care Not Killing Alliance - in spite of their ridiculous hyperboles and terminal bleating about the subject - that we don't want to end up in a place where you can kill people willy-nilly with bugger-all consequences. I find it more than a little ridiculous that they immediately equate the idea of a change in the law with the sudden mass extinction of the old, the sick and the disabled - frankly I think that says a lot more about their prejudices and convictions than anyone else's - and having just seen the glory of the Paralympics last summer and listening to some of the hilarious conversations of the old dears on the buses every morning, I strongly and categorically refuse to live in a world where these people are not allowed to exist. That smacks of eugenics and Nazism and all sort of horrible things which must not be allowed to happen ever ever EVER.
On the other side of the fence, my heart breaks for people like Paul Lamb and Tony Nicklinson and "Martin", whose brains are totally functional but whose bodies are breaking down like pieces of meat left out in the sun. I can't imagine how horrendous it must be to be in so much pain and so desperate to escape it that contemplating suicide is seen as your best option, if only your wretched body would actually allow you to pull the damn trigger or tie the damn noose or smother yourself in that bloody pillow just above your head. At least people whose bodies allow them to move can overdose themselves on asprin should they so desire; it must be hideous to be so desperate to die, to be in so much pain and know it's never going to get better, but be completely physically unable to do anything about it.
I don't know what the answer is, if I'm honest. I imagine it would be ridiculously difficult to police, to ensure unscrupulous medical "professionals" or adult children desperate to get their hands on a long-living elderly parent's cash, for example, don't just start bumping people off left, right and centre, but at the same time I feel like if someone is in this position - people like Diane Pretty, for example, who also campaigned for the right to die - and they have the mental capacity to say "you know what? This is NOT a life; I'm in constant pain and barely existing and, actually, if you could just help me shove those pills down my throat that would be marvellous", then I think we have to respect that decision and that choice. If you're not in that situation then who the bloody hell are you to decide whether someone can or cannot make the decision to end their own life?! I think there are plenty of people on the planet who should never, ever have children because they're fucking useless at parenting - do I go around telling them that? No sir, I do not. I just help pick up the pieces when it all goes tits-up. That's beside the point and I'm digressing...
Basically, it's about time we fronted up to this issue and started having a proper grown-up discussion about it in the appropriate places. Yes, Parliament, this means you. And, actually, I DO think the courts have a part to play in this too, by way of advising and supporting the Government on the issue. They have committees for the most bonkers and pathetic things in Westminster (amongst all the good stuff) so why not a committee to look at this issue? It's not going away any time soon; isn't time we started being grown up about it and trying to get some sort of clarity on the issue...?
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