Esther Rantzen says she's joined assisted dying clinic

 


The broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen says she has joined the Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.

The 83-year-old told the BBC she is currently undergoing a "miracle" treatment for stage four lung cancer.

If it does not work, "I might buzz off to Zurich", where assisted dying is legal, she told Radio 4's The Today podcast.


But she said she was looking forward to this "precious" Christmas, which she hadn't thought she would live to see.

Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. While there is no specific offence of assisted suicide in Scotland, euthanasia is illegal and can be prosecuted as murder or manslaughter.

Dignitas is a not-for-profit organisation that provides physician-assisted dying to relieve suffering, such as for those with terminal illnesses.


Speaking about her decision to join Dignitas, Dame Esther said it was driven in part by her wish that her family's "last memories of me" are not "painful because if you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times".

The broadcaster said if she did decide to have an assisted death at Dignitas that would put "my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me, and that means that the police might prosecute them".


The Health and Social Care Committee is due to publish its report into assisted dying and assisted suicide in England and Wales, having launched an inquiry in December 2022 to examine different perspectives in the debate.


Asked what she would do if she was made prime minister for the week, Dame Esther said: "I would get them to do a free vote on assisted dying.

"I think it's important that the law catches up with what the country wants," she said.

Dame Esther, who is best known for presenting the BBC Show That's Life! for 21 years and launching the charity ChildLine, said people should be given the choice about "how you want to go and when you want to go".


"I get all the arguments about... not wanting to be a burden and pressure being applied and all that. But... you can come to the wrong conclusion.

"If you just base everything on the worst case scenario, you've got to have a look at the advantages as well."

Campaigners for assisted dying say a change in the law would give people with terminal illnesses or who are suffering greater control over how and when they die.

But opponents argue a change in the law would threaten vulnerable people.



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