This just in: The House of Lords has voted down the Falconer amendment to extend legal immunity from prosecution to families who take disabled and ill people to Switzerland to commit suicide with the “help” of Dignitas.
The House of Lords has defeated a motion to change the law that makes it a crime for loved ones to help the terminally ill to travel abroad to die.
In introducing the proposal, Lord Falconer said there exists a legal “no-man’s land” that requires clarity.
The Lords voted to defeat the amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill by 194 to 141.
At least 115 people from the UK have gone to Swiss clinic Dignitas to die, but as yet no-one has been prosecuted.
The debate in the Lords thrust the issue of assisted suicide back into the spotlight and drew sharp criticism from church leaders and advocates for the disabled.
More on this later. –Stephen Drake
So glad you are back. The BBC story’s use of the word “help” gives me pause. It indicates the BBC needs to have more awareness of the issues.
That would mean writers and editors.