Right-to-die law to be clarified after Purdy victory

|PIC1|A landmark ruling yesterday has cleared the way for families to help terminally ill relatives to end their lives without the risk of prosecution.

Debbie Purdy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, wanted to know if her husband Omar Puente would face prosecution if he assisted her in committing suicide overseas.

Law Lords ruled on Monday that the Director of Public Prosecutions must clarify the conditions under which a person might face prosecution.

“The House of Lords unanimously allowed the appeal of Miss Purdy. First, they held that the present law interfered with her right to respect for her private life,” they said in their ruling.

“Everyone has the right to respect for their private life and the way that Ms Purdy determines to spend the closing moments of her life is part of the act of living.

“Ms Purdy wishes to avoid an undignified and distressing end to her life. She is entitled to ask that this too must be respected.”

Aiding and abetting a suicide is a criminal offence under the 1961 Suicide Act, carrying a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. So far police have only ever questioned relatives who have assisted their relatives in suicide and no one has ever been prosecuted for assisting someone’s death.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said initial guidance would be published by September ahead of a public consultation, reports the BBC. Permanent guidelines are expected to be issued by next spring.

Miss Purdy, 46, from Bradford, said the ruling 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,” she said.

“This 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.”

The Christian Legal Centre said the Lords' ruling was a "further departure from the Christian principle that ensured in the past the protection of the vulnerable".

Speaking on behalf of the CLC, US Professor William Wagner said: “When the positive value of life becomes an immorally relative individual choice, very bad things always follow.

"Minutes after the law lords published their decision, the CEO of Dignity in Dying called on parliament to expand the scope of assisted killing in this nation.

"The grave implications for the United Kingdom accompanying such a choice are clear.”