Nothing’s changed
Assisted dying activist’s daughter in laws blast 10 years after dad’s death
ASSISTED dying campaigner Tony Nicklinson’s daughter has spoken of her anger that “nothing has changed” 10 years after he died.
Tony fought a high-profile court battle for the right to die after a stroke left him with locked-in syndrome.
But judges ruled it was for Parliament to decide if Britain’s blanket ban on assisted dying should change.
Tony, 58, from Melksham, Wilts, contracted pneumonia and died on August 22, 2012, after refusing food and care.
On the 10th anniversary of his death, his daughter Lauren said she thinks her father would be “angry” that laws have not been changed. She said: “The last 10 years should have allowed politicians to drive change and give people who are incurably suffering the dignified end they may choose. Yet nothing has changed.”
Tony was paralysed from the neck down and could only communicate via blinking. The former engineer described his condition as a “living nightmare”.
Calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying, Trevor Moore, chair of My Death, My Decision, added: “Ten years on from brave Tony’s death, his ambition of a compassionate assisted dying law has yet to be achieved.
“He demanded that someone who was not terminally ill but suffering unbearably from an incurable condition, should be able to call on help to die.
“But so far politicians have ignored overwhelming public opinion – and, increasingly, that of health practitioners – in support of a law.”
Opponents of assisted dying fear people will be pressured into agreeing to have treatment withdrawn as they do not want to become a burden.