A former director of the BBC Philharmonic and his wife went to Switzerland to die in a assisted suicide clinic. Debate on euthanasia.
known assisted suicide of British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife, Joan, in a Swiss clinic has fueled the debate on euthanasia in the UK.
Accompanied by his two sons, the couple traveled last week to the controversial Dignitas clinic to take off there life after Joan, a former dancer of 74 years, received the news that he was suffering from terminal cancer. Edward
health was fragile, I heard wrong and had poor eyesight, and decided he did not want to live without his wife after 54 years of life in common.
Downes, a specialist in Verdi, Wagner and the Russian repertoire, who worked many years at the helm of the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, had given his last concert for three years with the Birmingham Symphony and BBC Philharmonic.
said Mike George, producer of the latter band, "Joan went everywhere with him, it's like your eyes. In recent years, accompanied him from the clubhouse to the edge of the stage and then he continued down the aisle open between the first and second violins. "
is not the first British couple to turn to the Swiss clinic, and so in February also used their services marriage made by Peter and Penelope Duff, 80 and 70 years respectively, both suffering from terminal cancer.
Both times were the children of couples who reported what happened to the British press.
In this and other cases, the British police should investigate whether there was a crime and if the bombers were accompanied by others, to inform the Crown Prosecution Service.
Helping a person to commit suicide is a crime that is punishable by a maximum of fourteen years in prison, but so far the prosecution has not prosecuted any passenger.
More than 115 Britons have Dignitas life removed, some of them in conditions that doctors do not consider terminals. These will include Daniel James, 23, who was paralyzed following an accident in a game of rugby.
After learning of the suicide Downes, groups in favor of life repeated calls against euthanasia.
According to Andrew Ferguson, of the organization "Care Not Killing" (Taking care rather than kill), Edward Downes case is poignant because it is mostly a love story, a man who could not continue his life without his partner so many years.
But Ferguson told Efe that maintaining the current legislation such as it stands is important because it seeks to protect the most vulnerable people in society, such as the elderly who feel they are an emotional and financial burden for the family that cares for them.
added that on 7 July, the House of Lords (high) rejected, with a majority of 53 votes, any change to British law relating to assistance to a person who wants to commit suicide.
Ferguson acknowledged that the religious debate about suicide will never end.
The same view is the Pro Life group, which said in a note to Efe that the UK resists all attempts to legalize assisted suicide.
"We must do everything possible to ensure no one dies with physical or mental pain, but you can not accept euthanasia or assisted suicide as the answer to a truly just society, "noted the statement.
the other side of the debate are groups that support euthanasia.
James Harris, the "Dignity in Dying" (Dignity in Death), told Efe that the conductor's case highlights the need for the United Kingdom to review its legislation when it so happens a person who accompanies a relative to a Swiss clinic to end his life.
Harris noted that, under current British law, they can be sentenced to 14 years in prison to accompany another to commit suicide abroad.
Asked how far the United Kingdom to amend the legislation, Harris said it was "inevitable" and only "a matter of time."
He recalled that in recent polls 78 percent of respondents felt that one should not condemn a person to assist another to travel to Switzerland to commit suicide.
SOURCE: THE VOICE
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