Stardate 20020430.1619

(On Screen): One thing the UK seems to understand quite well is Catch 22. Consider the case of Diane Pretty. She suffers from an advanced case of motor neurone disease and is paralized from the neck down.

Let's be clear about something: there will be no miracle. She isn't going to get better. It's going to kill her eventually, and it will be a slow and very unpleasant death. She has no hope. What she wants is a dignified and painless and rapid death instead of a slow and horrible one.

And she can't have it. The courts have decided that she has to let nature take its course. The reason? She waited too long. She is physically incapable of killing herself (she can't even move) and she would need help from someone else, and anyone else who helps her would be guilty of a crime under British law, and would pay for their mercy with a long term in prison.

On the other hand, a prisoner of the Crown identified as W is actively trying to kill himself in solitary right now and has been granted the right to do so by the same court which refused to give Diane Pretty the same right. The means he's chosen is also going to be unpleasant and slow and extremely painful, but they're letting him go ahead.

As far as I can tell, the legal distinction is that W is still able-bodied and is able to do the deed himself without aid (which is just as well, because they're not giving him any, and he's limited to means which will cause his death to be slow and painful). Since Diane Pretty would need help from someone else in order to die, she's out of luck.