Dear Supporter

DPP Final Guidelines
On Wednesday 25 February, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) published his final guidelines.

  • They no longer suggest that a more lenient view will be taken of assisting the suicide of sick or disabled people
  • They no longer give special protection to spouses and family members as assisters of suicide
  • They make clear that assistance given by a doctor or nurse to a patient under their care would be regarded as an aggravating factor

THANK YOU for taking the time to respond to the consultation, your action helped improve the guidelines. You can read full details of the responses to the consultation online. CNK haswelcomed the improvement over the draft guidelinesbut remains concerned about some remaining flaws and problems, such as how a compassionate suspects' motives are to be determined in practice.The test of these guidelines will be their practical application, which CNK will be following with interest. The most important thing to remember is that the law has not changed: assisted suicide remains illegal in the UK.

British doctor likely to be charged
Michael Irwin, a retired British doctor, is likely to be thefirst person chargedunder the new DPP guidelines. The BMU, MDU, MPS and MDDUS have all commentedto advise those in the medical profession against being involved in assisting suicide.

Margo MacDonald Euthanasia Bill, Scotland – Please respond
Margo MacDonald MSP is currently attempting to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in Scotland through her End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill. CNK has published a brief critique on the Bill. On Wednesday 3 March 2010, the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill Committee launched its public call for written evidence on the Bill. A report on the responses will then be taken to the Scottish Parliament.

The Committee welcomes evidence from individuals, organisations and professional bodies. CNK encourages all to respond to the consultation, using personal stories wherever possible, and would encourage doctors or other health care professionals to detail from their professional experience reasons for opposing the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Those making written submissions are asked to respond by no later than Wednesday, 12 May 2010. Full details on how to respond and submit your evidence is available on the committee's webpage.

Internet predator to be charged
46-year-old male American nurse, William Francis Melchert-Dinkel, is to be charged by Minnesota police with encouraging British IT consultant Mark Drybrough, Canadian student Nadia Kajouji, and others, to commit suicide. He has now apparently confessed to posing as a young woman on the internet and attempting to persuade vulnerable young people to take their own lives. Care Not Killing campaigned in 2009 to stop the internet promotion of suicide and supported amendments to the Suicide Act 1961 to enable convictions of internet suicide predators to be more readily achieved. We welcome this latest development.

Election
Political leaders, includingDavid Cameron and Gordon Brown,have wisely spoken out against any relaxation of the UK law on assisted suicide. Please write a short email to express your support for them taking this stance. Email David at: David.Cameron@Conservatives.com and Gordon by visiting: www2.labour.org.uk/contact-him

As any future voting on this issue in Parliament will be one of individual conscience, it is still very important to contact those who hope to become your new local MP, to make your views known to them and find out where they stand on the issue. You can find the candidates in your area and paste their names into Google to find their individual contact. Also, why not see how MPs from the different parties have tended to vote previouslyon this issue?

David Morris
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of David Morris on 18 April 2010. David was a much loved and respected leading light in the disability rights movement and advised both Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson on disability issues. He was also a powerful advocate against any change in the law to allow assisted suicide or euthanasia and often appeared on national media as a CNK spokesperson. He will be very greatly missed.

Personal Stories
As the risks of any weakening in the law in relation to Assisted Suicide become increasingly highlighted, a number of you are writing to the Care Not Killing Alliance with your own experience of why you feel the law is best kept as it is. Visit our Personal Stories page and send us your own story to info@carenotkilling.org.uk

Alison Davis writes, 'If euthanasia had been legal then, I would have requested it with no hesitation at all,...no one would ever have known that the future held such good times and that the doctors were wrong in thinking I didn't have long to live.'

Twitter
CNK is now on Twitter! Join for FREE and keep up-to-date with all the current CNK news.

Media Centre
Keep up-to-date with CNK Media appearances.

Petition
If you have not already done so, please sign the petition listed on The official site of the Prime Minister's Office, which states that, 'we the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to retain the law that makes it a criminal offence to assist another person to commit suicide'.

Stay informed
Check the CNK website for regular updates

Support
CNK continues to be grateful for every donation

Speak out
Keep writing your comments online in response to articles in the media. Engage in discussions and write letters to newspapers and politicians with your views. Medical members can write to BMA News and medical journals.

Thank you for your continued support and action!

Care Not Killing Alliance