In what is believed to be a first, a man suffering from chronic pain caused after nerve damage caused by having a tumour removed from his spine has launched a fundraising campaign to be able to afford to travel to Dignitas in Switzerland in order to be assisted to die. Roger Bailey’s appeal for funds has been launched just days after another man, Jeffrey Spector, made the same journey as a result of a long-running battle with spinal cancer.
Mr Bailey told the Daily Mail that ‘I decided more than a year ago it was time for me to die… I am not terminally ill but I am in constant pain and rapidly losing my dignity.’
BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented, ‘Stories like Roger’s and Jeffrey’s highlight the urgent need for the legalisation of assisted dying here in the UK. It is not acceptable to “pass on” the burden of providing assisted dying services to those who need it to an expensive country half way across Europe, or else some – such as Jeffrey – will be able to afford such a death but at great personal cost and before they might otherwise choose to die; while others – such as Roger – will struggle to be able to afford it at all.
‘The legalisation of assisted dying for the terminally ill and incurably suffering would be overwhelmingly popular in this country and for many individuals it cannot come soon enough.’
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For further comment or information, please contact BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson on andrew@humanists.uk or 020 3675 0959.
Read more about the BHA’s campaigns work on assisted dying: http://humanists.uk/campaigns/public-ethical-issues/assisted-dying/
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.