The family of a woman who chose to end her life at Dignitas have spoken about the stress of keeping the plan a secret to avoid prosecution. Alison was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), a life-limiting, neurological condition, in June 2022 and wanted to end her life on her own terms at Dignitas. Her husband David accompanied her to the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland in February 2023. Currently, laws throughout the UK prevent people from asking for medical help to die and those who assist someone to end their life can face up to 14 years in prison.
David and his daughter Catie have decided to speak publicly about the experience as part of efforts to change the law on assisted dying. David admitted that the stress of looking over his shoulder started to play on him quite badly. They just couldn’t risk telling even a close friend. Alison was a talented singer, musician and artist who taught French and German at the University of Reading. The cost of her and David attending Dignitas was approximately £15,000.
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK, but recently, Scotland, Jersey and Isle of Man have all announced they were considering changing the law to let terminally ill people end their lives. Critics have said changing the law would place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial or emotional burden. The anti-assisted dying campaign group Care Not Killing has warned that the criteria could be extended beyond terminally ill people to include those with disabilities and conditions such as dementia and depression.
The private members’ bill which was put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has split politicians in all major parties. The deeply sensitive nature of this issue means that the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised his party will be allowed to vote freely with their conscience. According to Dignitas, UK membership jumped to 1,900 people in 2023. It said 40 people from the UK ended their lives at Dignitas in 2023. The latest figures from prosecutors suggest that just four cases of assisted suicide have been prosecuted in the UK, with the majority not leading to charges.
Aside from the emotional strain of going through with such a difficult decision, Alison’s family had to keep the trip to Switzerland to end her life secret to avoid being prosecuted for assisting in ending a life. They have shared their story in the hopes that others will not be forced to go through the same arduous experience. They believe that those who are terminally ill should have the right to choose when and how they end their life without being a stress on loved ones or fearing legal repercussions
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
