Join our debate with Heather Pratten who herself has been charged with aiding and abetting a
Heather Pratten
suicide of her son Nigel who had Huntington’s disease, and Broadcaster and Journalist Mik Scarlett who is an expert in the field of access and inclusion for disabled people
Show date: Monday 13th May
Show time: 1pm
Next week (14th May,) Jane Nicklinson, the widow of ‘Right to Die’ campaigner, the late Tony Nicklinson will begin her quest to see the Court of Appeal overturn the High Court ruling against doctor-assisted death. She will be joined by Paul Lamb who is severely paralysed and is seeking a separate court declaration that any doctor who killed him would have a defence against a charge of murder.
In what is shaping up to be the start of a momentous week and long battle, Lord Charles Falconer QC will be tabling an Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Lords on Wednesday 15th May, seeking to legalise the choice of assisted dying for terminally ill adults with less than six months to live.
In England and Wales, it is an offence to encourage or assist a suicide.The law is almost identical in Northern Ireland and anti-euthanasia campaigners say the current law protects vulnerable people.
Joining us in this special Benenden Health assisted dying live webTV show are Heather Pratten, Official Patron of Dignity in Dying, who is in support of assisted dying and Mik Scarlet, Broadcaster and Journalist, who is against a change in the law. Mik has experience of members of the medical profession questioning his “quality of life”, even though he is happily married and has a successful career in the media, things which many non-disabled people dream of.
Heather herself has been put on bail for murder for being with her son Nigel (who had hereditary degenerative neurological disorder, Huntington’s disease) and putting a pillow over his face when he lost consciousness from the overdose. In the end she was charged with aiding and abetting a suicide and received a conditional discharge for one year.
So where do you stand in this controversial debate? Would you consider assisting a loved one to die, knowing it is illegal in the UK? Would you travel to another country where assisted dying is legal to help a loved one die as/when they choose? What circumstances should qualify for the right for any ‘assisted dying’ law to be utilised?
Join the live Benenden Health webTV show where we have two voices from different sides of the assisted dying debate, who will be discussing the whole issue in much more detail.
Heather Pratten, Official Patron of Dignity in Dying and Mik Scarlet, Broadcaster and Journalist
join us live online at http://www.studiotalk.tv/show/assisted-dying-should-it-be-legalised on Monday 13th May at 1pm
Click here to submit questions before the show http://www.studiotalk.tv/show/assisted-dying-should-it-be-legalised
Heather Pratten in her own words:
My son Nigel had the hereditary degenerative neurological disorder, Huntington’s Disease.
We’d both watched my husband die from the illness and knew the distress and agony it could cause. Nigel knew what was going on and that he did not want to be around to suffer anymore. On his 42nd birthday he told me the best present I could give him would be to end his life. He didn’t want to die alone. I tried to persuade him against it but I would not let him die alone and promised him I would not let him fail. Looking back I still believe that it was his right to choose.
Other people have tried to end their lives and failed and then been left in an even worse situation than they were previously in. I was put on bail for murder for being with Nigel and putting a pillow over his face when he lost consciousness from the overdose. In the end I was charged with aiding and abetting a suicide and received a conditional discharge for 1 year.
I wish that Nigel could have asked a doctor to help him to die legally and peacefully.
Mik Scarlet
Born with a rare cancer which led to Mik being disabled all of his life. At the age of 15 he was very ill
Mik Scarlet
and as a result began using a wheelchair. He went on to become on the best known disabled faces in the media, especially during the 1990s, and a campaigner on many issues effecting disabled people. He presented for several TV shows, including the Emmy award winning Channel 4 kids TV series Beat That, the BBC2 magazine show From The Edge and was a regular on BBC News 24 and BBC LDN. He is passionate about the assisted suicide debate for three key reasons.
The first is what it says about disability and illness. “I am really proud of being disabled, and the arguments around quality of life might lead the wider society to believe that becoming disabled is a reason to die, rather than just a challenge of a new way of living”. He himself has experience of members of the medical profession questioning his “quality of life”, even though he is happily married and has a successful career in the media, things which many non-disabled people dream of.
The second is what effect it will have on the future of research into illness and disability. Mik himself was cured of the childhood cancer he was diagnosed with at the age of 6 weeks thanks to a new untested drug. He feels that if we go down the road of terminating the lives of people who have serious or life threatening conditions, it may eventually lead to lessening of the efforts put into research. “Why try to cure a disease if everyone feels the poor thing is suffering too much?” explained Mik.
The third revolves around the issue of allowing the medical profession to have the ability to end a patient’s life. “This is the key issue for me. In the past the medical profession could do no harm, and so a patient knew that every effort would be taken to ensure a successful outcome. By allowing doctors to end life, this security will no longer be there”. He feels that is may be the first step on a slippery slope where doctors see termination of a patient’s life as a normal medical procedure. “I’ve had several occasions where doctors have questioned my quality of life, without asking my feelings. The fact that they all saw me as a list of conditions and ailments meant they did not see the whole person. I have a wonderful life and I just wish that the same amount of effort was being put into ensuring that every disabled or sick person had the same experience”
“This is a turning point in the way our society sees illness and disability. If we do go down the road of assisted suicide we may end up living in a society where people like myself are no longer seen as viable. Why spend all that money and effort on saving someone who may face a life of illness or disability, when it is a better, cheaper and more noble to end their life? To be honest, the whole idea saddens and terrifies me… and every other disabled person I know”
Crystal Elk They won’t even take the blood from anyone with MS. I found that out the hard way on 9/11. So donation would only be to medical schools and labs.
But look at people like Stephen Hawking. Very disabled yet probably the smartest person on the planet. Granted this is the far end of the scale, but at what point do we say there is no hope?
Yes, I have MS had it since the age of 16 and i have progressed. Been on every medication out there none of it has worked. I’m now on chemo waiting for them to come out with a new drug. I suffer every day. I’m in bed more than anything. So yes when I’m at that point yes I want to go I don’t want to continue to suffer I’ve duffered almost all my life thank hod I have family support because my close friends left my side already. And people don’t even know the severity of my illness or how much I suffer. I cry just about twice a week about what someone said cause they compare themselves to me and if they only knew how bad it was. So yes yes yes I don’t want to stay alive like this its not fair that I have to suffer like this to the end.
YES , YES , YES , PLEASE, I’m Canadian, but my living will is to die on my terms and donate as many organs as possible donate my body to science!
I have primary progressive multiple sclerosis and I was dx in June of 03. I’m in alot of pain and I now got a lot more medical problems. I have already discussed with my family bout my wishes at the end. Why do people have to suffer to die? I don’t want to be remembered liked that. My uncle died of cancer on the day after Christmas but was in pain at the end. I don’t think that is right to make the dying suffer.!
This is a tough one! Yes, the quality of life is big factor an having MS since 03…it gets really tough sometimes. In my family I only have my mother left an she is 87. No, I don’t want to be alone to deal with disease all by myself..but it is not my choosing! When God says it time to leave this life, it will happen. He is Master of the plan an there must of been a plan of me having this awful neuro disease. He will take me home when he decides!
if you can have a living will not to be on life support, why can’t there be legal assisted dying???? why should someone be force to live a life as a burden to others and a life of pain????? I like another posting that was made in regards to how we do not make our pets suffer, why should it be different in regards to humans???
I have a good life now, but with several diagnosis I know that some day I might be ready to be done. As a dialysis patient I know that when I am ready I can stop dialysis and have a few days to say good bye . Hopefully I will not need to do that but I am grateful that I do have control of when I am done and wouldn’t want anyone else to have to make the decision for me.
I feel we should be able to make the decision to choose to die when life becomes too painful to llive on, I am a firm believer that we will meet again in a happy painfree world where we we’ll not grow old and enjoy everlasting life with those who have gone before us.
Personal experience, as all. Have been dxs with ms for last 7 years – tho’ must have had it for 23 yrs. My major care taker is my hubby [a rock], plus a helper thru the day. Have 80% disability, which means i’m either in bed – mainly asleep from medication – or helped into w/chair. To do what – watch t.v., get taken outside? Only thing i can do is witth one hand, need other to keep my balance, ‘cos spasticity has bent my spine. I am 60. Unfortunately for me, long-life runs in the family. Cut off 5 years due to ms, and i am looking at a “sentence” of 25 years. Seen my children grow up, grandchildren too. Tho’ they all live far away, so am lucky to see them once a year. If something happens to hubby, i’ll be put in a home. Literally, no room in childrens family homes, plus extra economical aid to have a person 24/7. The only thing that “keeps me here” are my aging parents. Don’t want them to have to go through the loss of one of their children. Once they are gone, if something happens to hubby before me, then i’m out. Just pray that i’ll have the ability to do what i plan. As for pain, permanently on “the menu’. Don’t have any illusions about a cure. Doesn’t pay the drug companies to have one. YES, we should be allowed to live in dignity, AND die in dignity too. Before ms i more than likely answered no, but now!!!!
I have M.S. and I suffer daily. My family and friends don’t even know the extent of my suffering, because I think it would be too selfish to let them in on all of my pain. Before my granddaughter was born, I had a plan. I was going to jump off of the Golden Gate bridge. Ha! I’ve always been a bit on the dramatic side….anyway, now that my granddaughter is here, I no longer think about dying. I think about living. And fighting for my life. BUT, if I live and survive long enough for my granddaughter to graduate, and before I get to the point of having to have someone change my diapers and feed me thru a tube, I will take my own life. I would prefer to have my family with me when I do it. I would prefer that it was a time of celebration and letting go as well, as letting me know how much they love me. I do not want to die alone. But without legal assisted death, I will. And that scares me. But not as much as dying naturally with M.S.
Having MS and knowing what the end of MS will be like. I agree with it 110% assisted dying…
Right mow I’m with pain everyday & night. Good news is Right now I cold indoor the pain.
I should be getting my power chair soon, witch will help so much in getting around. ( I all really have a regular wheel chair}
But now My shoulder seems to be hurting more I can’t even use that one.
But getting back to assisted dying, for me I’m hoping that’s a long way away
We oftentimes treat our pets better than our humans. When pets are in pain and their end of life, we give them peace by euthanising them. Why can’t human’s determine how they want to have peace from pain?
Personally I believe that each situation has to be weighed on its own conditions. However, if someone is going to die of a suffering illness, they should have the right to choose between life of suffering which would be burden and suffering for their families as well as major expense (let’s just be honest here) or to end life if their condition is terminal or irreversible. Sometimes we are more humane to our pets than we are to one another.
I think that every situation is different. I also think that the person should be able to make their own choice as long as they are doing so in such a way that they are not being coerced or doing so at a short term depression etc. We know who we are and what we can deal with. For some, it isn’t much compared to others who seem to thrive more when life is hardest. I think that the quality of your life is largely up to you. I also think that you are the best judge of that. I also have an aversion to someone keeping you alive for their sake and not yours. I have an aversion of making someone live with more than they can handle or which they can not keep at bay. I do not think anyone should ever be in so much pain that it saps them of a life of quality.
In the bible God said that every man has an appointed time to die. When it states every man it is referring everybody, as he is our creator we should honour him with living ours lives the best that we can, as a disabled person I can not think of ending my life, as there may be a cure for me.
I have MS. 20 years. I have lost so many abilities already. But I am in no hurry to die. It is not opportune but, so far, I have been able to adapt. If the day comes when I can no longer leave the bed, see or hear my grandchildren, take care of personal hygeine, speak to the love of my life, then I want the option to die with dignity. So long as I can live, let me be. But if this is taken too, then it is existing until I perish. I determined my whole life, how i would live it. I should have that same right, under these circumstances, how and when I will end it.
Currently legal in Oregon, but you have to be terminally ill.
If I’m just taking up space I’d rather not be here. No one else knows what kind of pain were in put us. Was dxed with multiple sclerosis when I was 23 yrs old then with fibro when I was 35 yrs old. I’ve raised my kids, fought both dieases for over 20 yrs now. If it gets to where I’m in more pain then I can stand. I’d like to know that I could end my life if I chose to do so. It’s my life I should have say so in it..
I agree, I think it is sad that people should continue to suffer. We allow our animals to not continue to suffer, why should humans??
Yes is should be legal. Why should be make our loved ones suffer. Why can’t we be allowed to say when we die. Why should we linger on and suffer while we put our animals down because we don’t want to see them suffer. It seems to me that letting our loved ones suffer is down right cruel.
yes legalise it. We don’t make our animals suffer so why should we. I know it’s legal in some countries but once again why should we have to leave home by so many miles & spend so much to do it.
I agree with Terence and not with Mik. I see the amazing innovations in care for animals and cures for illnesses in animals that can then be applied to humans, and this has nothing to do with allowing suffering dogs to be put out of their misery! I have M.S. and have no intention of dying sooner than my time, but if for any reason I cannot have some semblance of life or if I am in such intractable pain that cannot be lessened in any way, then I would like to think with my permission that we could live in a caring enough world where I could choose to die at a time and place of my choosing with family around me and not at some random time perhaps in the night alone perhaps in agony and with no dignity and no warning or perhaps after many years of existence, not living. I was a nurse and have seen this so many times with chronic illness, it truly is not what I want for me or any of my family!
JanineLeishman My HB has had MS for 15 yrs now & is daily pain. He always speaks about putting himself out of this daily misery, but the only things keeping him going are me and our two kids. He even speaks of – if ever there is a time that he has to be hooked to machines or placed in a wheelchair that he rather be gone, than to live in that state.
No doubt. I’m not sure how people get off telling others that they must live and go through crazy amounts of pain. Where is the humanity in that? If you see a dieing animal you put it out of it’s misery not make it suffer. It must be nice for you to have so little feelings for others.