Britain’s House of Lords will today hear a plea from a terminally-ill woman for the right to commit suicide with the help of her husband.
Mrs Diane Pretty is appealing against a High Court ruling on October 18th that the law did not allow a family member to help a loved one to die.
|
|
Mrs Diane Pretty
|
The 42-year-old mother of two, from Luton, Bedfordshire, who suffers from motor neurone disease and is paralysed from the neck down, is expected to attend part of the two-day hearing.
She is challenging the refusal of the Director of Public Prosecutionsto rule out taking criminal proceedings against her husband of 25 years, Brian, if he helps her to take her own life.
Her lawyers have argued that her human rights were breached by the state's refusal to allow her husband to lawfully assist her to commit suicide.
Counsel for the DPP has said that he had the "most profound sympathy for Mrs Pretty and her family", but there was no power for him to grant immunity before the commission of a criminal act.
In granting permission to bring the appeal, two weeks ago, the law lords said they were aware of the public interest in the case and the fact that it raised issues that courts in this country had not previously dealt with.
PA