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British MS Victim Wins Key Right-to-Die Ruling

Court orders that current law be clarified

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 31, 2009 7:12 AM CDT

(Newser) – A British woman has won her legal battle to force the government to clarify its law on assisted suicide, the Guardian reports. Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy, whose health is deteriorating, wants to travel to a Swiss euthanasia clinic to die when her condition becomes unbearable. Britain's highest court agreed that the government needs to issue a policy statement on whether her husband could face criminal charges if he helps her to travel there.

"This decision means that I can make an informed choice, with Omar, about whether he travels abroad with me to end my life," Purdy said. The judgment concluded that "everyone has the right to respect for their private life and Ms. Purdy wishes to avoid an undignified and distressing end to her life." It ordered Britain's director of public prosecutions to begin work on a policy statement immediately.

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Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy, left, is kissed by her husband, Omar Puente, outside Britain's House of Lords in London after winning her appeal there yesterday. (AP Photo/Clive Gee/PA Wire)

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy at her home in Bradford, England, earlier this year. (AP Photo/John Giles/PA)

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy and her husband, Omar Puente, are seen outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London. (AP PhotoJohn Stillwell/PA)

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I want to live my life to the full, but I don't want to suffer unnecessarily at the end of my life. This decision means that I can make an informed choice, with Omar, about whether he travels abroad with me to end my life. - Debbie Purdy

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British MS Victim Wins Key Right-to-Die Ruling