‘We have given our politicians the tools, now they must finish the job...’
‘The time has come to allow us all to make this choice... our choice’
DAME Esther Rantzen has urged Members of Parliament to find the courage to reform assisted dying laws, declaring: “You have the tools, now finish the job.”
Writing in the Express, the campaigner paraphrases wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill in 1941 as she tells lawmakers the will of the people must not be ignored.
It follows the stunning success of a petition demanding an immediate right-to-die debate, which was backed by the TV presenter and charity Dignity in Dying. It gathered 112,000 signatures in just a month.
The extraordinary outpouring of support means the Government must now consider a full House of Commons debate – but parliamentary time is running out.
Our petition was launched on January 8 and had six months to reach its target.That it was met so quickly shows it is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Assisting someone to die is currently punishable as murder or manslaughter and carries a 14-year jail term. The matter has not been debated by MPs since 2015.
Widowed grandmother-of-five Dame Esther, 83, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last January. She said: “This is a vital step forward. It shows how many people feel very strongly the time has come to allow us all to make this choice. It’s our life, it should be our choice. Thank you to everyone for your support. It is an historic moment and a moving and impressive example of people power.”
The indefatigable octogenarian has spent a lifetime campaigning against injustice and is known to millions for fronting That’s Life! from 1973 until 1994. She also founded Childline in 1986 and The Silver Line in 2013, helplines for abused and neglected youngsters and lonely older people.
But her drive to reform “outdated and cruel” assisted dying laws has galvanised support across Britain and is set to be her lasting legacy.
She has urged everyone to write to their MP reminding them of the urgent need for a debate and a free vote to reform the law that would bring Britain in line with countries around the world. Many allow legalised assisted dying for terminally ill patients who beg to be allowed to pass away painlessly and with dignity.
Since revealing she had signed up to Swiss assisted-suicide clinic Dignitas, Dame Esther has been inundated with messages from tens of thousands of people.
Some have lost sick loved ones in unimaginably cruel ways and others simply want the right to end their lives as they see fit. In a tub-thumping message to MPs, she said: “Must terminally ill patients travel alone to Switzerland to obtain the gentle, peaceful death we would surely all choose?
“I cannot express how deeply I have been moved by the letters I have received, and the extraordinary response to our petition.
“I have been incredibly inspired by the compassion and support I have received.
“Not only from those who share my view, and describe their experience of losing someone they love, memories which must cause them so much pain to share, but they do so because they know their evidence proves how inhumane the current law can be.We are calling for the right for all of us to choose. It’s our life, it should be our choice.”
Dame Esther recently revealed she could live anything up to 10 more years.
Asked how she feels, she told broadcaster Gyles Brandreth on his Rosebud podcast: “It’s impossible to know – so I don’t know. Every now and then I say to my consultant, ‘When am I going to die?’ And he tells me, ‘Some time in the next 10 years.’”
Her rallying cry has been backed by historian and royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby, 79, whose brother Nicholas has motor neurone disease, and Woman’s Hour
host Dame Jenni Murray, 73, who lost her mum to Parkinson’s and dad to lung cancer.
Other backers include Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, 83, whose brother David endured “months of pain and agony which could not be successfully managed” with bone cancer, and political heavyweight Ruth Davidson, 45, who said there were “people very close to me who are consumed by dementia which has ripped their personality and spark away”.
Assisting death is illegal and prohibited by the Suicide Act 1961, as amended by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
The Director of Public Prosecutions examines individual cases to decide whether to prosecute.
Dame Esther lost her beloved husband Desmond Wilcox to heart disease in 2000. Her drive to reform “cruel and outdated” laws is backed by her three children.
The success of our petition means it will become a major general election issue.
But with polls looming it is unlikely any legislation will be passed imminently.
Experts believe the fastest route to reform will be for the issue to be debated in the Commons, most likely through a private members’ Bill with a new law to follow.
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said: “The public support for the legalisation of assisted dying is stronger than ever. Dame Esther is clearly galvanising the nation to make their voices heard.
“They know, many all too well, that as long as we do not change the law, dying people will continue to suffer, forced to choose between suffering potentially painful deaths, suicide or dying lonely deaths hundreds of miles away in Switzerland. Now the Government must listen.”