Britons Travelling Overseas For Assisted Suicides

EDM number 2749 in 2005-06, proposed by Evan Harris on 16/10/2006.

That this House expresses its condolences to the family of motor neurone disease sufferer Paul Bennett, who died recently; notes that he chose to have an assisted suicide at Dignitas in Switzerland; regrets that Mr Bennett's relatives were subjected to police investigations and risked 14 years imprisonment under the Suicide Act 1961 for respecting his wishes and being present when he died; welcomes the Director of Public Prosecutions' recent decision that it is not in the `public interest' to prosecute his relatives; notes that 54 Britons have died at Dignitas and no prosecutions have followed, suggesting that the police and prosecution authorities do not see the current law as effectively serving the public interest; recognises the finding of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill that even excellent palliative care will not prevent some terminally ill people from suffering and wishing to receive help to die; believes it would be safer for terminally ill people who wish to receive help to die, and for vulnerable people who are put at risk under current British law, to change UK law in accordance with the provisions of the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill; regrets attempts by the minority who oppose changing the law to stifle all debate on this important subject; and hopes that there will be more debate of this issue by Parliament in the future.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.