Grandfather With Multiple Sclerosis Euthanized Even Though Doctors Said He Had 10 Years to Live

Andrew Barclay took a lethal dose of barbiturates at Dignitas,
andstory is now being used to push for euthanasia in the UK

By SPUC

A man with multiple sclerosis travelled to Dignitas last week to die by euthanasia, despite being told he could live another decade. His story is being used to push for euthanasia laws in the UK.

Andrew Barclay, 65, from Folkestone in Kent, died after taking a lethal dose of drugs in an apartment near Zurich, having travelled to Switzerland with his wife.

The story was on the front page of the Saturday edition of the Daily Mirror, with the headline "If you're reading this- I'm already dead". The former civil servant called on& UK legislators to allow euthanasia amid concerns that his wife may face a police investigation on her return to Britain for assisting him.

Many of the media reports say that the case means that the UK should change laws on assisted suicide, with few quoting the views of opponents.

Dr Anthony McCarthy of SPUC said, 

"The media coverage of this story further reveals the ongoing campaign to make euthanasia acceptable to the British public, despite recent parliamentary defeats. The message sent out by Dignitas in cases such as these is not one of people's need for compassion, solidarity and medical care, but rather that certain lives can be arbitrarily destroyed for reasons unrelated to any genuine respect for human dignity."

 Story continues at spuc.org