LONDON, Aug 20, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Dianne Pretty, a 47-year-old British woman suffering from motor neurone disease, has launched a legal battle to allow her husband to assist her with suicide. Canadian anti-euthanasia activist Alex Schadenberg has criticized the case as another attempt by the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, which has backed the case, “to exploit the disabled to find a poster-child to forward their cause.”
Pretty, with the backing of her husband and adult children, will argue at the High Court that the refusal to allow her husband to assist her with suicide contravenes the Human Rights Act by subjecting her to inhuman and degrading treatment. The BBC reports that Pretty wrote the prime minister earlier this year asking to have the law on voluntary euthanasia changed.
Schadenberg, of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSite, “It is obvious the Mrs. Pretty is in a very difficult condition and there is suffering involved in her case. But if Ms. Pretty is given the right to assisted suicide, it cannot be limited to her alone but would result in assisted suicide for the disabled across the whole nation.” Mr. Schadenberg concluded: ” Our concern is for the vulnerable people whose lives would be taken against their consent, especially since most disabled people are devalued in the eyes of most.” A recent poll, featured in the current issue of The Interim, shows that many Canadians do not respect the lives of disabled people.
See the BBC coverage: https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1499000/1499875.stm
For information on obtaining The Interim: https://www.lifesitenews.com/interim/subscribe.html