Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter broke down in tears as she made an emotional appeal to politicians to legalise assisted suicide.
Rebecca Wilcox, whose mother is terminally ill with lung cancer, has made a heartbreaking appeal for her mother not to be allowed to endure a “painful death” on Good Morning Britain.
Asking politicians to speed up the process of creating a law that “gives people choice,” Rebecca got emotional, prompting host Robert Rinder to get emotional as well.
Through tears she said: ‘I find it very difficult to talk about this and not get angry, because I don’t want her to go through a painful death, I don’t want my memories of her to dissolve because of the pain and agony of these last few days.
‘So write to your MP, ask him to vote freely and let’s get a really friendly law passed that gives people options.’
Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter Rebecca Wilcox broke down in tears as she made an emotional plea for politicians to legalise assisted suicide on Good Morning Britain on Friday.
“I want politicians and MPs to realise that we can all choose how we live and we can choose how we die. It’s not about shortening anyone’s life, but about shortening their death.
“It has nothing to do with making people feel like a burden on society, it has nothing to do with making people feel like they should kill themselves to help their family, it has everything to do with a terminal diagnosis of six months or less.”
Last year Esther, who presented the BBC TV series That’s Life! for 21 years, revealed that he had joined Dignitas, the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
In England and Wales, assisted suicide can be punished with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
But despite the enormous personal risk, Rebecca said she would help her mother attend a Dignitas clinic.
She said: ‘I can’t let my mother go to her death alone, yet, I’m a working mother, I can’t risk 14 years in prison, I can’t risk a two-year investigation, I can’t risk the work I do with Childline.’
Rebecca said the laws were not clear enough at the moment, calling them “confusing” and called on the government to come up with a better framework for end-of-life care laws.
Rebecca, meanwhile, said she was disappointed that assisted suicide had not been mentioned in the King’s speech.
Calling on politicians to speed up the process of creating a law that “gives people choice,” Rebecca became emotional, prompting presenter Robert Rinder to tear up as well.
Last year, Esther, who presented BBC TV series That’s Life! for 21 years, revealed she had joined Dignitas, the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
Rebecca said the laws were not clear enough at the moment, calling them “messy” and called on the government to better outline laws on end-of-life care.
She said: “I’m very disappointed, I thought I had misheard, I read the whole transcript. It was a campaign promise.”
Speaking about his mother’s last wish, he urged politicians to “make it possible for her.”
He added: “Let’s pass it, the legislation is there, let’s protect the vulnerable, we know how to do it.”
Rebecca, a TV presenter, wrote in Saga magazine: “If she goes (at the moment, it would be her only option for assisted dying) she will have to go alone. It is against the law to accompany her. I would face prosecution for manslaughter and could receive up to 14 years in prison.”
‘Even if it doesn’t go to trial, many people face a two-year investigation. I have a young family with two children, a busy household and a complex job. I shouldn’t have to risk going to prison just to keep my mother company, but I’m not sure I can let her go alone.
‘It’s an impossible choice to make: either I risk possible prosecution at the worst time of my life, when I’ve just lost my beloved mother, or I do the unthinkable and let her die alone in a foreign country with no one she knows or loves to hold her hand.’
Elsewhere, Rebecca said she was disappointed that assisted suicide was not mentioned in the King’s speech.
Wilcox added: ‘The idea of her dying is really abhorrent, but the idea of her dying in pain is unthinkable.
“Her health is not very good and her illness has no cure. The prognosis could lead to a painful death that will not be alleviated by palliative care or opioid painkillers.”
She wrote of her pride in her mother’s campaign work and called on the British government to implement a legal route to assisted suicide.
“I cannot understand the lack of action from our government, which seems unable to engage on this issue. It is inhumane. The opportunity to have an assisted and comfortable death in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland shows a level of compassion from policymakers that sadly seems to be absent in England today.”