Debbie Purdy: British coalition charges are 'scaremongering'

Description:

A group of influential British lawyers, peers and former judges have formed a coalition that has attacked the new prosecution guidelines on assisted suicide as posing "serious dangers for public safety". They urge the public to consider the position put forward by Care Not Killing, an umbrella anti-euthanasia organization bringing together the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain & Ireland, the British Council of Disabled People, the Christian Medical Fellowship, and The Church of England.

Miss Purdy, 46, said: "Are they suggesting that people who have an incurable condition, who do not see any possibility of their lives improving, should suffer in order to cleanse their consciences? It is unreasonable."

The coalition's remarks on elder abuse met this response from Purdy: "Old age is not an incurable illness, it is a stage of life. The elderly are not at risk, the group is missing the point and scaremongering."

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past advisories on the web (see bottom.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/yzmemp6

  • http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4740941.Debbie_s_anger_at__scaremongering_/

    Also see:

  • Care Not Killing submission to the DPP guidelines [Care Not Killing]
    http://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/?show=859

    This web page has a link to the 29 page PDF document.

  • Britain: Elderly and disabled could be 'forced to commit suicide' under changes to rules [Telegraph]
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6562682/Elderly-and-disabled-could-be-forced-to-commit-suicide-under-changes-to-rules.html

    "A group of leading lawyers, peers and former judges including Baroness Butler-Sloss, the former head of the family division of the High Court, are warning that the plans pose 'serious dangers for public safety'. But the group - which also includes Lord Walton of Detchant, Professor Sheila Hollins, a former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Baroness Campbell of Surbiton says the new guidance is 'not fit for purpose'. The group has signed up to a hard-hitting response to the proposals from campaign group Care Not Killing, in which it warns that changes to the law could mean that the lives of stroke-sufferers, disabled people and those with arthritis, could be at risk."

  • Britain: Debbie Purdy - Concerns over right-to-die law [BBC News]
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8361463.stm

    "Ms Purdy said: 'This cannot finish until we have changed the law because it's not just people like me who want the security of knowing that if life becomes unbearable there is the potential to end it and we won't have a duty to suffer.'"

  • Britain: Assisted suicide is not a tick-box exercise [Times Online]
    http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesonline.co.uk%2Ftol%2Fcomment%2Fletters%2Farticle6917757.ece

    "We urge your readers to access the guidelines, which appear on the CPS website, to read them carefully alongside the response that has been submitted by the organisation Care Not Killing, and which is available on its own website, and to make their views known to the DPP as soon as possible."

  • Britain: Warning over assisted suicide laws [The Press Association]
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hYtwtPrZtxo99crXHvOOlTKYgzoA

    "Baroness Butler-Sloss, the former head of the family division of the High Court, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, a former Lord Chancellor, and Lord Carlile of Berriew, the Government's terrorism legislation adviser, are among those who have come together as part of the coalition. The Telegraph reports that the group, which also includes Lord Walton of Detchant, Professor Sheila Hollins, a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, believes the guidance is "not fit for purpose", poses "serious risks of misinterpretation" and would create "serious dangers for public safety". It has added its weight to a response to the proposals from campaign group Care Not Killing (CNK)."

  • Legal guidance on assisted suicide 'a danger to elderly' say judges [Times Online]
    http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6916916.ece

    "New guidance on the interpretation of the laws surrounding assisted suicide pose 'serious dangers for public safety', according to a group of influential lawyers, peers and former judges. Baroness Butler-Sloss, the former head of the Family Division of the High Court, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, the former Lord Chancellor, and Lord Carlile of Berriew, the Government's adviser on terrorism legislation, are among those who fear that the proposals will pressurise increasing numbers of the elderly and infirm into acting to end their lives."

  • New guidelines on assisted suicide could put vulnerable people at risk, says Lord Carlile [Telegraph]
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6562860/New-guidelines-on-assisted-suicide-could-put-vulnerable-people-at-risk-says-Lord-Carlile.html

    A Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, Lord Carlile of Berriew, says that the interim guidelines on the prosecution of assisted suicide need radical reappraisal: "But the result is simply not fit for purpose. It accepts many of the false assumptions of the euthanasia lobby and it trespasses in a number of places on the political debate on assisted suicide."

Source:

O'Rourke, Tanya. "Bradford MS sufferer attacks suicide law critics". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 9:28am Monday 16th November 2009. <www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4740941.Debbie_s_anger_at__scaremongering_/>. Bradford Telegraph and Argus, Telegraph & Argus, Hall Ings, Bradford BD1 1JR, United Kingdom.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • assisted suicide

  • Care Not Killing

  • Debbie Purdy

  • Britain

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid200911169571.
Mailed: Monday, November 16, 2009 14:23:14 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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