Dame Esther Rantzen, the prominent media personality and founder of ChildLine and The Silver Line charities, has said that if she were Prime Minister for one day, a national vote on assisted dying would be at the top of her agenda. Speaking to BBC News, Rantzen stated that “the law needs to catch up with what the country wants” and the wider public should have the right to choose how and when they die in a safe, legal and humane way.
At the age of 83, Rantzen was recently diagnosed with stage four lung cancer but reported a “miracle” treatment was enabling her to continue her personal and professional life. However, she also revealed her plans to “buzz off to Zurich” and the Dignitas clinic if her treatment fails and “my family’s last memories of me” would not be painful. Her admission highlights the growing debate over the right to die, with assisted death currently illegal in England and Wales.
Under current laws in England and Wales anyone who assists someone to die, or accompanies them abroad to do so, can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. This has led to a number of high-profile legal cases of those accused or convicted of helping a loved one to take their own life, including Dianne Pretty and Tony Nicklinson.
Dame Esther’s support for a change in the law is not confined to personal experience, as she highlights the limits of palliative care and the ongoing debate, particularly around the ‘right to life’ and how it conflicts with human rights law. She told BBC News, “We’ve got to do something. At the moment, it’s not really working, is it?”
Esther Rantzen is also known for launching the ChildLine charity in 1986, the UK’s first national helpline for children needing support, and more recently, she established The Silver Line charity, which tackles loneliness in older people. Rantzen will be honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship in July 2021, an accolade recognising her lifelong contribution to media both in front and behind the camera
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