MS sufferer asks high court: Will my husband go to jail if I die?

A multiple sclerosis sufferer will today ask a judge if her husband will be prosecuted if he helps her commit suicide abroad.







Debbie
Purdy said for 13 years, I've been in love with this man, he's
everything to me, and I'm not about to see him take a risk of
prosecution because of something that's happening to me


Debbie Purdy, 45, is attempting to force the Director of Public
Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, to clarify the law regarding friends
or relatives who help a loved one travel to a country where assisted
suicide is lawful.Miss Purdy, who is confined to a wheelchair,
wants to able to die in a clinic in Switzerland when her condition
becomes unbearable but she fears that if her husband, Omar Puente,
helps her he may be prosecuted in Britain for assisting her suicide. In
June two High Court judges granted her a judicial review of Sir Ken's
refusal to publish the official policy on assisted suicide. Lord
Justice Latham said it was an "issue of great sensitivity" and added:
"The process of determining how to end one's life is as much part of
the
process of ordering one's life as any other serious decision." Miss
Purdy said at the time: "I'm extremely happy in my life, I love being
married to my husband, I love my friends. "But
if I leave it too late and need his help, he faces 14 years in jail.
And that's more frightening to me than going to Switzerland by myself
and ending my life before I'm ready. "For 13 years, I've been
in love with this man, he's everything to me, and I'm not about to see
him take a risk of prosecution because of something that's happening to
me." She was diagnosed with MS in 1995 and is now a member of
Dignitas, which has helped around 100 British people to die since 1992.
None of their relatives has been prosecuted, although the
families of Win Crew, Jan Healey and Stefan Sliwinski were all
investigated and faced anxious waits before the cases were dropped.


Do you think she should see be allowed to die ?

Yes i do...its her own decision and i am sure she has discussed it at great lengths with her family....

I am not sure i could ask a member of my family to assist me in ending my life..i think it would be awful for them after i had gone...

But i feel quite strongly about this subject....
If someones suffering so badly that they can't take any more pain and its just a matter of time then i feel they have the right to decide whether to carry on or not...

My religion would not agree and i know theres many many ppl who don't either....

But if an animals suffering we put them out of pain....

If i was suffering so badly and i was going to die then i would like to be able to choose when and how !!

Hmmm - really difficult one this. If it were legal then it could be open to abuse by those wanting an end to their spouse's life and basically hiding a murder.

I agree in some respects KK, but I think perhaps it should be restricted to a medical profession assisted suicide in exceptional circumstances and with clear boundaries.

The way I look at it - and this is based on physically being able to (i.e not bedridden and unable to move) - why do the sufferers ask their partners / family? If it were me and that was a decision I had made - I would do it myself and not run the risk of anyone else being prosecuted for assisting.

I would think that the assistee (if that is a word) may have trouble coming to terms with what they had done afterwards also?

I agree MarkyD totally..I wouldn't ask anyone..I would wish to do it myself...

I just feel we should be allowed to have that choice.....

Tis a difficult subject....

i would want to die with dignity.i would not want my family to have to do everything for me.my life,my death ,my choice.