My brother battled cancer like Esther Rantzen but we couldn’t help him end his misery – UK must allow assisted dying
DAME Esther Rantzen has campaigned tirelessly on issues from child abuse to loneliness in old age.
But now, while facing the ravages of Stage 4 lung cancer, she is calling on the Government to grant her the right to end her own life.
The 83-year-old former That’s Life! presenter, who founded the Childline and Silver Line helplines, has signed up for Dignitas — the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
But as British law stands, any person joining the TV star on her trip to the euthanasia centre in Zurich, to be with her in her final moments, could face up to 14 years in prison.
Much-loved Esther said: “I have joined Dignitas.
“I have in my brain thought, ‘Well, if the next scan says nothing’s working, I might buzz off to Zurich.’
“But it puts my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me.
“And that means that the police might prosecute them. So we’ve got to do something.
“At the moment, it’s not really working, is it?”
There is strong opposition to legalising assisted suicide in this country.
When there was a vote in 2015 on allowing doctors to end the lives of terminally ill patients, 330 MPs opposed the Bill and only 118 supported it.
The Church of England and many disability charities are also against euthanasia.
The struggle that this complex issue presents was revealed by Dame Esther’s daughter Rebecca Wilcox, 43.
Rebecca, who supports the broadcaster’s campaign to change the law, said: “I personally would want to ground her plane if she was going to fly to Zurich, but I know it’s her decision.
“I just don’t ever want her to go.”
The Health and Social Care Committee launched an inquiry into assisted dying last year and there could be a fresh vote once its findings have been published.
Several countries, including Canada, Holland, Australia and New Zealand, allow it in certain circumstances.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove has told of the “respect and affection” he holds for Dame Esther, but added: “I’m not yet persuaded of the case for assisted dying.
“However, I do think it’s appropriate for the Commons to revisit this.
“I would want to listen with humility to Dame Esther and others outlining the case.”
Here, The Sun’s Royal photographer Arthur Edwards and The Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith debate the controversial issue.
Yes, says Dame Prue Leith
MY memory of my brother David’s last days and his death were not, sadly, of him peaceful and resigned, at home with his family around him.
Yes, he was intermittently at home — but mostly our memories are of him in hospital, groaning in agony, crying, sometimes screaming.
He had bone cancer, which is incredibly painful but doesn’t kill you.
You have to wait, and pray, for it to spread to a vital organ, or for “the old man’s friend”, pneumonia, to do that.
Palliative care couldn’t help my brother’s suffering.
His doctors couldn’t increase the dose of his morphine because they said this would kill him or make him addicted.
His daughter told me she sat with a pillow in her hands, willing herself to end his misery, but she could not bring herself to do it.
She feels she let him down.
His death made me a fierce supporter of assisted dying.
Last year, I filmed a documentary about it and met others who have been affected by the UK’s blanket ban on assisted dying.
One was Joy, whose elderly mum stood trial for murder for helping terminally ill husband Dennis die.
Crime of compassion
The couple had attempted to end their lives together but, when Mavis survived, she was taken to a police cell in her nightie.
The jury unanimously found her not guilty, but not before Mavis had suffered 18 months living in fear of being condemned as a murderer and the trauma of prosecution.
All for the crime of showing compassion to the man she loved.
Every year, up to 650 dying people in the UK take their own lives.
Some travel to Switzerland to have an assisted death, but the cost of more than £10,000 is beyond the reach of most.
Besides, who wants to travel while ill and die in a strange place without a friend?
A friend or relative could commit a crime by being there.
There has to be a better way — and there is.
Within the same year as Joy’s dad Dennis’ death, the parents of another woman, Sher, were able to choose assisted dying.
They were both terminally ill and, as they lived in Oregon, US, where assisted dying is legal, they could say goodbye and end their lives peacefully, holding hands, in their bed.
Britain is falling behind the rest of the world on assisted dying.
I urge politicians to catch up and have this crucial debate.
No, says Arthur Edwards
IT is impossible not to be moved by Dame Esther Rantzen’s words about her fight against cancer and her desire to be in control of her final moments.
Esther told how she wished doctors had left her to cuddle her late husband Desmond Wilcox rather than trying everything possible to save him.
And when you hear about husbands, wives, loved ones in continual pain due to some terrible illness, you understand their desire to end the suffering.
I certainly wouldn’t condemn someone going to Dignitas in Switzerland to take a drug to end their life, or a family member for joining them.
But that is not a path I would choose or one that I think our Government should be making legal here in Britain.
Life is precious and should not be taken away.
Can you really be sure, when a doctor tells you that you only have months or weeks to live, that they are right?
No one knows how long they have left on this Earth.
Palliative care is so good in this country that the pain can be relieved and medical breakthroughs mean there is often hope for a cure.
Protect sanctity of life
Like many people, I am worried it will become commonplace for patients to be encouraged to end their lives.
Doctors might recommend it in order to free up bed space, or family members might persuade people to commit assisted suicide in order to inherit their wealth.
Disability rights groups, including Scope, are opposed to assisted dying because they fear that disabled people will be pressured into agreeing to be euthanised.
There is little doubt that, if our Parliament legalised euthanasia, it would open a floodgate.
According to Care Not Killing, an organisation that opposes assisted dying, only 273 British people have travelled abroad in 13 years to end their life at a Dignitas-type clinic.
But in Oregon, a US state which legalised assisted dying, 278 people chose that option in one year alone.
It is also important to consider the family members who don’t want their loved ones to die.
Esther’s daughter Rebecca Wilcox is understandably upset about the prospect of her mum flying to Dignitas in Switzerland, and I know my children would not want that for me.
Most religions also oppose assisted dying and, as a Christian, I agree that it is wrong.
We need to protect the sanctity of life.