Elderly people in the Netherlands are so afraid of being killed by doctors that they carry cards saying they do not want euthanasia. Kevin Fitzpatrick, a researcher with the activist group Not Dead Yet, claimed that relaxing the law in Britain would pose a threat to old and disabled people as it would allow for “moral judgments” that their lives were not worth living. He said it is “nonsensical” to say that we all have a right to die, when what is really being sought is the right to a premature death that not all people in society seek.

A court victory in Britain last year forced the Director of Public Prosecutions to admit that individuals would not be prosecuted for assisting the suicide of terminally ill loved ones in most cases. Supporters of the disabled and the elderly worry that this will make them feel pressured to end their lives. Mr Fitzpatrick wrote on BMJ.com last week: “Disabled people, like others, and often with more reason, need to feel safe. Thus eroding what may already be a shaky sense of safety in medical care poses a further threat to disabled people’s wellbeing, continuing care, and life itself.” ~ London Telegraph, Apr 21