UK Man: Falconer Assisted Suicide Recommendations Don't Go Far Enough

With all the debate around the Falconer Commission having gone too far in its recommendations, here’s a UK man who thinks the recommendations don’t go far enough.

Commission on Dying’s ‘not radical enough’ – Melksham man

A PARLYSED Melksham man who is campaigning for the right to end his life has expressed his disappointment with the recent report from the Commission on Assisted Dying.

In December 2010 Tony Nicklinson, 57, and his wife Jane gave evidence to the commission, which was funded by author Terry Pratchett and businessman Bernard Lewis.

Last week its 400- page report said the existing law on assisted suicide “is inadequate, incoherent and should not continue”.

However it recommended that only people with less than a year to live should be offered a choice to end their lives, which doesn’t apply in Mr Nicklinson’s case.

Mr Nicklinson suffers from ‘locked-in’ syndrome, following a stroke in 2005. more

Severe Medical Disability Clouds End Of Life Decisions

Here’s a more-balanced-than-usual story about death and dying for someone with a severe medical disability.

Chris Woodhead: 'I don’t want to be told how I can die’

For most of the last five years, Chris Woodhead has been thinking of ways to kill himself. There is not a quietus that he hasn’t explored, from sending his wheelchair spinning over a cliff in Cornwall to slitting his wrists, attaching a hose pipe to the exhaust of his car or drinking a glass of poison. As motor neurone disease invades him, wasting and cramping his muscles, stripping him of mobility and independence, he is making plans to avoid the squalor of total physical collapse. more

An Antidote To Pro-Death Horror Stories

The release of the Falconer Commission report has stirred much more opposition than I had anticipated. Here, another look at dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease (motor neurone disease):

Assisted suicide opponent: 'Every breath is precious'

Kathryn Higham gets angry when she hears claims that assisted suicide is the only way to achieve a "dignified" death.

"My aunt had motor neurone disease and handled it with dignity and when her end came it was not with horror or pain but with peace," said the 43-year-old mother of one from Bolton. more

Irish Research Challenges Perception Of Painful Death

We need more research like the work reported in this piece.

There's more to dying than death

FEW ILLNESSES are as feared as Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The autoimmune condition, which attacks the central nervous system, is irreversible, incurable and nearly always fatal. The time from diagnosis to death takes an average of between two and five years.

It is the condition most obviously brought to mind when people consider the issue of assisted suicide. . . . [and] informed the work of former nurse Sinéad O’Toole, who is now a lecturer at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems in UCD.

O’Toole has interviewed the relatives of 21 people who died from MND for her PhD. She presented the results as a paper to the Irish Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) recently. more

UK Assisted Suicide Piece Tries To Be Balanced - But Fails Miserably

Here's a long UK piece about another pro-death poster person. The article tries to be balanced, but you know the reporter is in the tank on the pro-death side by using adjectives like "fatal and merciless condition," "indignities of his illness," and " His physical faculties  . . . are already pitilessly diminished." You get the idea.

I can't roll my wheelchair over a cliff so Dignitas seems a good way out', says Motor Neurone-crippled Chris Woodhead

When, two years ago, Sir Chris Woodhead lost the use of his legs completely and succumbed to life in a wheelchair, he and his wife Christine moved house.

You might assume they chose a conveniently adapted bungalow fitted with grab-rails and ramps, a short walk from the shops. You'd be wrong. more