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European court judgement in Dianne Pretty case is welcomed
London, 29 April 2002--The coalition of pro-life groups which has been involved in the case of Mrs Dianne Pretty has warmly welcomed today's unanimous judgement by seven judges in the European Court of Human Rights that there is no right to be helped to die.
The coalition had serious concerns that the case could undermine the
lives of vulnerable people and lead to the practice of euthanasia. In
the Netherlands decisions by legal authorities have led to the
widespread killing of patients on a voluntary and non-voluntary basis.
The pro-life coalition intervened in the courts to argue that Mrs
Pretty's case could critically undermine the right to life of disabled
and elderly people with degenerative diseases. The coalition remains
deeply concerned that other cases have been brought in such a way as
not to allow interested parties to intervene. Judgements have been
made which could adversely affect the right to life of disabled people
without representative groups' being heard in court as they were in
Mrs Pretty's case. The law Lords said it was very helpful to have the
submissions from these representative groups.
In 2000 there was a virtual consensus against assisted suicide at a
conference organised by the British Medical Association.
Those who backed Mrs Pretty's case appear to have had a wrong understanding both of motor neurone disease (MND) and of the palliative care available to terminal sufferers of the condition. The pro-life coalition was not allowed to submit evidence provided by Dr Nigel Sykes, a leading expert in palliative care for MND sufferers, but this evidence can now be obtained from SPUC, which is part of the coalition.
