Ban protects the vulnerable, says court

The ban on assisted suicide is justified and protects the vulnerable in society, the High Court has said.

A three-judge court comprised of High Court president, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, Mr Justice Paul Carney and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, unanimously rejected terminally ill Marie Fleming’s constitutional challenge against the ban.

The court said that while Ms Fleming, aged 59, was in many ways “the most remarkable witness any of the judges had ever the been privileged to encounter”, but in the interests of protecting the vulnerable in society, the ban was justified and did not amount to an interference with her rights.