The Debbie Purdy question

Should Debbie Purdy’s husband be allowed to kill her? I’m keen to know what you think, because – for me – both instinct and reason say: no. Absolutely not.

Debbie, who has a particularly nasty form of MS, is considering going to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to be killed, but wants to be sure that her husband would not be prosecuted on his return.

The High Court has just refused her a guarantee and I think they’re absolutely right. What does it say about the value of a human life if it’s ok to kill disabled people? What about suicidal depressives who may change their minds? Are they in a fit state to decide their own futures?

When people talk about a desire to die, what they’re really often talking about is a desire to be free from suffering. But medical science is advancing every day — there’s every reason to hope that mental and physical pain will be alleviated by better means than a premature death.