Thursday 22 October 2009

New leaflet campaign against assisted suicide

Following the House of Lords judgment in the Purdy case in July, the Director of Public Prosecutions has now issued his “interim prosecuting policy” for assisted suicide. It is very worrying indeed.

It lists factors that will count against the DPP bringing a prosecution - these include things like the victim being disabled, and that the victim spontaneously asked the suspect for help (this is quite ludicrous – as the victim will be dead by the time). This policy will be used to sanction help for suicides in England and Wales, as well as those who help people go abroad to kill themselves.

We are about to publish a briefing to guide people on how to make submissions to the DPP. SPUC's new leaflet "Assisted suicide, a terrible mistake" (pictured) is for handing out as widely as possible – door to door, via churches, family and neighbours – to let people know about the campaign and invite them to order a briefing.

Please order copies of the leaflet to distribute as widely as possible. The consultation exercise runs until December, so we have only about 6 weeks to get these leaflets out widely. You can order the leaflet (and the briefing) by emailing me at johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk

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