UK campaigner calls for '21st century' assisted suicide law

British law on assisted suicide should be made “appropriate for the 21st century”, right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy said today as prosecutors began work on new guidelines following her landmark legal win.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer Ms Purdy said the historic British House of Lords ruling backing her call for a policy statement on when prosecutions around assisted suicide would be brought would provide key safeguards to protect the vulnerable.

However, she said she would continue her campaign to force a change in the law and pledged to play a full role in the debate.

Ms Purdy took her case to the Lords because she wants to know what would happen to her Cuban husband Omar Puente if he helped her travel abroad to end her life.

The couple were at the House of Lords yesterday to hear five Law Lords unanimously back her call for a policy statement from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the circumstances in which a person such as Mr Puente might face prosecution for helping a loved one end his or her life abroad.

DPP Keir Starmer QC said prosecutors would begin work immediately on an interim policy setting out the reasons why prosecutions should or should not be brought.

The interim policy should be ready by September, followed by the final version by spring next year, he said.

Ms Purdy told BBC Radio 4’s 'Today' programme: “The only way to determine what the policy should be is to discuss it so that we can make sure that all safeguards are considered and thought about and we get a policy which is appropriate for the 21st century.”

She played down fears that the new guidance would lead to an increased number of people being pressured into ending their life.

“I don’t think there is going to be a rush to get Auntie May to the knacker’s yard because they want to inherit her house.

“The DPP has got the responsibility of making sure that financial gain is definitely not something which should be allowed for assistance.”

The policy should distinguish between a malicious act and a compassionate act, Ms Purdy from Undercliffe, Bradford, West Yorkshire, said.

“I want to be involved in the discussion about what the policy should be and also a campaign to change the law in this country.

“We can’t allow de facto changes in the law, it has got to be the result of proper open discussion.”

Ms Purdy told 'Today': “The DPP is going to be creating policy which sets out for what reasons he won't prosecute people but also for what reasons he will prosecute people.

“That means that, for the first time under this law, we have some safeguards in place rather than just a prohibition or the threat of prosecution after the event.

“We have got clear guidelines beforehand so that people can change their actions in order to make sure that they don’t risk prosecution.”

Giving their ruling yesterday, the Law Lords said: “Everyone has the right to respect for their private life and the way that Ms Purdy determines to spend the closing moments of her life is part of the act of living.

“Ms Purdy wishes to avoid an undignified and distressing end to her life. She is entitled to ask that this too must be respected.”

The Law Lords agreed that changes to the law were a matter for British parliament, but upheld Ms Purdy’s argument that the DPP should put in writing the factors that he regarded as relevant in deciding whether or not to prosecute.

The judgment will bring reassurance to thousands of people faced with the same dilemma.

It was welcomed by the charity Dignity in Dying as ensuring that the law “kept up with changes in society”.

But Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the MS Society, said: “Debbie Purdy’s victory has pushed MS into the spotlight but there is far more to living with MS - even in its more severe forms – than planning how to die.”

Phyllis Bowman, executive officer of Right To Life, claimed the Law Lords had effectively ruled it was lawful for somebody to help a person commit suicide abroad, but not at home.