Lawyer argues Right to Life Includes Right to Die
LONDON, October 11, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Dianne Pretty, a 47-year-old British woman suffering from motor neurone disease, was in court Tuesday on the first day of a hearing about her desired assisted suicide. Pretty’s lawyer, Philip Havers, argued at the High Court that the refusal to allow her husband to assist her with suicide contravenes the Human Rights Convention by subjecting her to inhuman and degrading treatment.
In a bizarre twist, Havers argued further that prohibitions against Mrs. Pretty’s assisted suicide violate her right to life under Article 2 of the convention. “The right to life includes the right to die and to choose how and when one dies. Death is an integral part of life. It is also an inevitable consequence of it,” he said.
The hearing continues.
See the Telegraph coverage: https://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/11/npret11.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/10/11/ixhomef.html
See related LifeSite coverage: BRITISH HIGH COURT ALLOWS COMATOSE WOMAN TO BE STARVED TO DEATH https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/oct/011005.html#2