Dignity in Dying
I found it impossible not to be deeply moved by the following report about a terminally ill man - George Martin (86) - who is starving himself to death in protest against the law that prevents doctors or relatives from helping him to die.
George has terminal lung cancer and has been refusing food since his condition was diagnosed two weeks ago - George has the support of his large extended family who are caring for him in his Nottinghamshire home - where he is receiving palliative care and liquids.
Granddaughter Allie Lewis, said:
“Like all families there are differences of opinion but we all support his right to make a decision on who he wants to end his life. He is a man who knows his own mind and made this decision a long time ago. He very much wants what he is doing to help change the law. This morning he asked me to keep fighting in his name when he has gone and I will. I have always found him an inspiring man. He says animals are treated more humanely and would not be left to suffer like this.”
George Martin wrote a “living will” more than 20 years ago stating that he should not receive treatment if a terminal illness was ever diagnosed — he had watched his wife die a slow and painful death from a brain tumour.
George also knows about the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, where two Britons a month travel to end their life, but - quite rightly - he asks why he should have to leave his family.
Understandably George does not want a family member to help him - only to face the risk of prosecution because assisting a suicide can lead to 14 years in prison.
Allie Lewis added:
“He is very clear about what he wants. He wants a doctor to assist him to die here. He knows this is allowed in some other countries and that it seems to work well."
Campaigners say that Mr Martin is among dozens of terminally ill people who take their own life each year because they are unable to seek professional help to die. A new attempt to change the law will be made in the summer when a Private Member’s Bill will be tabled in the Lords.
It will state that assisted suicide should be legal when a patient is terminally ill and expected to live less than a year. It will also require that a person’s wish to die is confirmed by two doctors. The Bill will also make clear that patients must take their own life.
None of the relatives of the 220 or so Britons who have travelled to Dignitas to die has been prosecuted, although all have been investigated by police.
Dignity in Dying, the campaign group, said its research shows far more terminally and seriously ill people are taking their own life while they are still able. A study it conducted found there were 560 suicides by seriously ill people in Britain in 2010.
Good luck to them - I say.
Because to me it comes down to whether taking your own life and getting the help you need to do so - should be a criminal offence.
The people who want to criminalise what George Martin wants for himself - as far as I can see - are motivated mainly by religious conviction.
Yet why should those people impose their will on others - when their is no suggestion that the person's wishes are clear and that they are making a well informed choice?
