The new guidelines published today by the Public Prosecutor Keir Starmer on the construction of the law on the right to life “undermine the ban on committing assisted suicide”: this is claimed by Paul Tully, Secretary General of the “Society for the protection of the unborn children”, one of England’s most important pro-life associations.
“As a matter of fact, the new policy makes assisted suicide no longer a crime in a wide range of circumstances”, Tully explained to SIR. “The starting point of the new guidelines is a person’s will to commit suicide which must be respected. Conversely, a person who wishes to commit suicide should be helped keep on living instead of dieing. This concession to the victim’s will to die is the most important one the pro-euthanasia lobby was trying to obtain”.
According to the Secretary General, “the fact the Public Prosecutor did not listen to most of the answers – against euthanasia – that have been sent to him during the consultation on the guidelines is worrying”. The new guidelines have been published in response to a ruling of the House of Lords in favour of Debbie Purdy, affected by multiple sclerosis, asking whether her husband would be charged if he had helped her die.