Flaming June?
Whatever the weather may hold for us all in June, things are hotting up on the euthanasia trail. Threats follow one after the other, and whether there has been any orchestration or not, Parliament and the public will feel the pressure for euthanasia legislation like never before:
20 June: MPs who drew high numbers in the recent ballot for Private Member’s Bills will present their choices to Parliament. Richard Ottaway MP initiated the March debate in the Commons about the DPP guidelines, and came second in the ballot...Gavin Barwell MP, another member of the All-party Parliamentary Group on Choice at the End of Life, came fourth.
We expect a bill, already prepared by our opponents and in line with the Falconer Commission proposals, to seek assisted suicide for terminally ill people with less than six months to live, with upfront safeguards.
18-21 June: Three judges in the High Court will hear the joined cases of two men with conditions resembling locked-in syndrome seeking to move the law:
· Tony Nicklinson is arguing that the principle of necessity should allow a doctor to end his life without fear of prosecution for murder, and/or that the current laws interfere with his Article 8 right to his private life.
· ‘AM’ (‘Martin’) also argues under Article 8 and wants the DPP, the Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority and the General Medical Council to make clear in advance the extent to which solicitors and doctors could assist his suicide.
CNK is intervening formally in both cases, so we are limited in our public comment. Although the judges will almost certainly reserve their judgments (give them later) there will be huge media interest.
27 June (probably): During the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association in Bournemouth, we anticipate an attempt by activists from Health Professionals for Assisted Dying to get the BMA to change to a neutral position on legalising assisted suicide and/or euthanasia.
And looking to July, Dignity in Dying is planning a mass lobby of Parliament on 4 July to drive their views home to our legislators. Their glossy propaganda inserts are spilling out of commercial publications; they are spending hundreds of thousands; and clearly believe this is their year.
To prove them wrong, please:
· Get more informed
· Pass on news of these threats within your circle
· Get involved – write to your local newspaper, join local radio phone-ins
· Keep sending us your good news stories
· Donate – the legal intervention and our ongoing work need cash urgently
