A leading philosopher has renewed calls for the legalisation of euthanasia after the death of a paralysed rugby player.
A police inquiry is reported to be under way after paralysed Daniel James, aged 23, was taken to a clinic in Switzerland to enable him to achieve his aim of taking his own life.
In an email statement over the weekend, his mother stated: "Whilst not everyone in Dan’s situation would find it as unbearable as Dan, what right does any human being have to tell any other that they have to live such a life, filled with terror, discomfort and indignity? What right does one person who chooses to live with a particular illness or disability have to tell another that they should have to?"
She said in response to the case being reported to the police: "This person had never met Dan before or after his accident and obviously gave no consideration for our younger daughters who had seen their big brother suffer so much and the day before had to say goodbye to him.
"I hope that one day I will get the chance to speak to this lady and ask if she had a son, daughter, father, mother, who could not walk, had no hand function, was incontinent, and relied upon 24-hour care for every basic need and they had asked her for support, what would she have done?"
Writing in the Observer, veteran government adviser Mary Warnock states: "There are many, of whom I am one, who believe that we must try yet again to change the law, not by excluding from criminality those who assist death by taking the suicide abroad, but by liberalising the laws of our own country."
Leave a Reply