Is assisted suicide a right?

A terminally ill man with motor neurone disease lost his London court case today challenging the 1961 Suicide Act - fuelling debate about whether dying people have a right to end their lives with medical help.

Noel Conway, 67, wanted his doctor to prescribe a lethal dose in order to have what he described as a “peaceful and dignified” death.

His lawyers argued that UK law is incompatible with European legislation that guarantees the right to respect for private and family life, and protection from discrimination, says the BBC website. But the Secretary of State for Justice’s lawyer, James Strachan, argued that it was inappropriate for the courts to interfere with Parliament’s decision on the “sensitive moral, social and ethical issue” raised, the London Evening Standard says.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Conway, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, vowed to appeal.

“The experiences of those who are terminally ill need to be heard. This decision denies me a real say over how and when I will die,” Conway said, according to The Guardian.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, told The Guardian that the case was a paradox: “How can it be more ethical or safe for Noel to have his ventilation withdrawn under the current law, with no formal safeguards, than for him to request life-ending medication within the multiple safeguards proposed through his case?”

The British Medical Association has opposed physician-assisted dying, saying it risked putting “vulnerable people at risk of harm” and breached medical ethics.

Under UK law, anyone who helps Conway would be committing a criminal offence, The Independent says.