Phil Newby, 54, from Rutland in the East Midlands, said a legal assisted dying service would likely be in place too late for him but, six years on from his efforts to bring change through the courts, told how he would be “delighted” and find it “really satisfying” for Parliament to reform the law.
While unsure of his own life expectancy currently, he said a palliative care doctor had concluded he might have about 20% of his original health left and is terminally ill. Mr Newby told PA: “For me, in particular, I’m unlikely to benefit from a change in the law … even if it’s passed through the Houses of Parliament – which I hope it will be, I’ll be delighted if it is – will take two, maybe three years to come into effect.
A father living with motor neurone disease (MND) who took his fight for choice at the end of life to the High Court has appealed to MPs to change the “antiquated, out-of-date and frankly cruel” law which currently criminalises assisted dying.
The suggested change, put forward by committee member and Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon, would see people with neurodegenerative illnesses such as MND able to request assisted dying with 12 months left to live.
Campaign group Care Not Killing, which is opposed to a change in the law, has said the amendment to widen eligibility for some “shines a spotlight on the dangers of legalising state-assisted killing, as once politicians say there are some lives not worth living it is only a matter of which conditions and illnesses are included”.
