Campaigners praise PM's stand on assisted suicide

The Care Not Killing Alliance which includes medical staff, disability and faith groups has praised Prime Minister Gordon Brown's appeal urging people to "resist the call to legalise assisted suicide".

In a statement yesterday, the Alliance said: "This is a brave step and it is vital that we take this opportunity to demonstrate that Gordon Brown is not in the minority with this view."

Promoting the positive effects and developments in palliative care, Brown wrote yesterday: "I believe that people are drawn to support the right to assisted suicide because of fears about how they will be cared for when they are dying...we should look more closely at such fears and what has been done to address them...the last months of someone's life could be pain-free, dignified and worth living."

The Alliance said: "Those encouraging a change in the law, to legalise assisted suicide, are now actively taking steps to stand against him and his views - Debbie Purdy has already submitted an article to the Telegraph in opposition to Mr Brown, claiming that his words show ‘a lack of respect for the British people’. But there is great reasoning and protection behind his words. Brown foresees that the ‘risk of pressures – however subtle – on the frail and the vulnerable, who may feel their existences burdensome to others, cannot ever be entirely excluded’ and recognises the ‘inevitable erosion of trust’ were people legally allowed to help end the life of another.

"Please can you, with urgency, send a brief note or letter of support, via email, to:

The Times at: letters@thetimes.co.uk
The Daily Mail at: letters@dailymail.co.uk
The Telegraph at: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk

"Today, the Director of Public Prosecutions' final guidelines on cases of Assisted Suicide are expected to be published. Please continue to take every opportunity to make your views known – it really does make a difference."

For more information see: www.carenotkilling.org.uk/