Two cases were brought to the European Court of Human Rights, hoping for a Canada-style EU-wide imposition of euthanasia as a fundamental right. Case dismissed. From the story in the Telegraph:
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a right-to-die case brought by a paralysed former builder and the widow of man who had locked-in syndrome.
Paul Lamb and Jane Nicklinson, whose 58-year-old husband Tony died more than two years ago, brought the case at the court in Strasbourg — the culmination of their campaign that disabled people should have the right to be helped to die with dignity.
But in a written judgment on Thursday, the court said: “In its decision in the case of Nicklinson and Lamb v. the United Kingdom the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the applications inadmissible. The decision is final.”
It comes after it emerged on Wednesday that two sisters are holding a party to raise 8,000 to pay for their mother to end her life in a Swiss clinic.
By the way, the “Hey kids, let’s raise money for mom to kill herself!” party is off.
I am very pleased by the decision. If this toxic death-dealing is to become legal, it should at least be through democratic processes.
The Telegraph’s story about the case involved two people with serious disabilities. Despite that, the paper is running a poll asking whether assisted suicide should be legalized for the “terminally ill.” So typical.
Image: European Court of Human Rights, by CherryX via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
