With his own death an imminent certainty, Binner desired assisted suicide. The U.K. has still not agreed to that, in spite of a majority of the population purported to be in favour. Binner, therefore, chose to go to Switzerland where he could seek assistance and die with dignity. Last year, the English Supreme Court upheld a ban on doctors assisting patients to end their life and said it was a matter for parliament to decide. Recently, though, the House of Commons rejected a private member's debate arguing for change. Now, the British Humanist Association (BHA), of which Binner was a member, aims to take another case to the Supreme Court, refusing to accept that it cannot change the law. Canada's Court has recently overturned a ban after a twenty-year battle and the BHA hopes to repeat that success. In the US, too, five states now allow assisted suicide under certain circumstances.
All future changes in the law will be too late for Simon Binner who, relatively early in his life, had to face up to the realities of a certain, painful death if he hadn't ended his life. We know that, if we grow old, we will die naturally and even that's difficult for many to accept. It's a distressing situation if someone becomes terminally ill when they're younger. They have decisions to make and problems to solve, often having to consider their family that will be left behind. Surely, this situation should be made as easy and comfortable as possible and assisted dying would allow a modicum of control over wretched circumstances.
The law will change because it's the right thing to do. There's no argument that safeguards need to be put in place to ensure any law won't be abused, but that is detail. Let us recognise that terminally-ill people suffer enough without having to endure pain and an undignified end to their lives. The courts should be talking with the politicians and agree how to change the law quickly, thus ending their ping-pong dithering, and pass a law that respects the wishes of those unfortunate people who need it.
Binner had said that he would have liked to have spent a last Christmas with his friends and family around him, but felt compelled to act earlier as his health was deteriorating and he wanted to make sure that he was able to travel to Switzerland. If assisted dying were already legal in Britain, he could have chosen to live a few more months.