Inside U.K. Fighting for the right to die By Richard Payne	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
安楽死の賛否両論 4月1日、オランダで安楽死を合法化する法律が施行されましたが、現在のところ、安楽死が法律で認められているのは世界でオランダだけです。今週は、イギリスで自ら死期を選択する権利を認めてほしいと主張する人々と、それに反対する人々の声をレポートします。

Diane Pretty wouldn't claim to be famous. But if you asked most Britons, they would probably be able to tell you who she is. She's not well known for her acting, for her singing, or because she has a position high up in the government. No, Diane Pretty is famous in Britain because she wants the right to die.

Mrs. Pretty is a 43-year-old woman who almost single-handedly has made the subject of euthanasia a national talking point here. She suffers from a condition known as "motor neuron disease" and wants to choose the time of her death before the final stages of the disease take over. She is already paralyzed from the neck down and not able to take her own life.

She wants her husband to help her end her life as long as he won't be taken to court for doing so. While suicide is not a crime, helping someone else to commit suicide is, and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Mr. and Mrs. Pretty have now taken their campaign to the highest court in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, after the British House of Lords failed to grant them their wishes.

The case of Mr. and Mrs. Pretty has divided opinion throughout the country. Some say this brave woman should be allowed to have her life ended if it is her wish. Others say that, however tragic her case is, no one has the right to perform what has become known as a "mercy killing."

Diane Pretty's sad circumstances are similar to those being experienced by a man who lives not far from me and whom I have known since we were both working on different newspapers in the same city.

The man, Phil Such, 37, was diagnosed as having motor neuron disease 19 months ago and has been taking only liquids since the middle of February. He believes the only way he can die with dignity without getting his partner into trouble is to go without any food until he passes away. He also hopes his protest will help to change the country's laws on euthanasia.

Phil spoke to the television company I now work for and told us: "I feel I've reached my limit and I have no choice but to starve myself. You can suffer a long, lingering and horrible death. I believe there should be laws in place with strict guidelines that allow someone to die humanely."

Phil's partner and caretaker, Sheryn Alexander, fully supports his actions but knows she can do nothing to aid his death. "He doesn't have a choice because he doesn't want to lose his voice. When he's lost his power of speech, Phil's lost his character," she said.

Remembering Phil as a big, strong man, who loved all sports, particularly rugby and a few beers afterward, it is hard to see him as I did last on the television. He looked old and frail and tired and his speech was slow. He appears in the media quite often, about once a fortnight, but his speech and movements are getting worse all the time.

On the whole, religious leaders in this country believe that any deliberate killing, whatever the reasons, is still murder and that life, however painful, should still be cherished and valued.

Mike Willis, chairman of the Pro-Life Alliance, recently wrote on the BBC Web site: "Promoters of these practices (euthanasia) take a utilitarian view of human life rather than viewing all human life as uniquely created and deserving absolute respect.

"The legalizing of intentional killing is the catalyst for the wholesale destruction of the elderly. We have seen the torrent of death in Holland where the elderly are terrified of entering hospital for fear of involuntary euthanasia."

There has been another high-profile case in Britain just recently where a woman known only as Ms. B has won the right to have the ventilator that's keeping her alive switched off. The paralyzed patient made legal history when she told a senior judge sitting at her bedside that she wanted to be allowed to die. The dramatic moment was linked by video to a courtroom several miles away in London.

Doctors at the woman's hospital refused to switch off the ventilator. They said they had grown to know her so well that they couldn't end a life, which they thought still had so much to offer the world.

In a decision that could have a wide-reaching impact on many other similar cases, the judge agreed that, however much people may disagree with the woman's wishes, her wishes had the right to be respected.

The Netherlands remains the only country in the world where so-called "mercy killings" are allowed by law in cases where patients are in a state of continuous, unbearable and incurable suffering. Britain still seems far from becoming the second country in the world to grant euthanasia, even in a very limited form.

Shukan ST: April 26, 2002

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