Wendy Duffy travels to Pegasos, assisted suicide Swiss clinic where British woman will be legally euthanized after saying she can no longer bear living following the death of her son, four years ago. The United Kingdom and the U.S forbid assisted suicide. The assisted suicide reignites debate of what qualifies for permissible ending of one’s own life.
Moral dilemma? A physically healthy 56-year-old woman from the U.K is slated to end her life at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland on Friday, following profound heartbreak over the death of her son four years ago.
Wendy Duffy, of West Midlands previously tried ending her life following the death of her 23-year-old son, Marcus Dolman, who died after choking on a cherry tomato. The attempted suicide, which involved the mother overdosing on drugs led to her being hospitalized for over two weeks.
Intent on ending her life ‘efficiently’ and ‘legally’ Duffy had elected to travel to non-profit facility, Pegasos assisted dying clinic in Basel, Switzerland, where for $13,500 she can finally ‘be free’ from the omnipresent grief that consumes her.
Unable to find meaning in life and seeking an efficient legal death, British woman travels to Swiss assisted suicide clinic
The decision to end her life comes despite therapy and no longer able to find meaning in her life, the mother told the dailymail. Along with a desire to make her death efficient, Duffy wants to spare others the trauma of finding her deceased.
‘I could step off a motorway bridge or a tower block but that would leave anyone finding me dealing with that for the rest of their lives,’ she told the outlet.
Duffy expressed a strong desire for assisted dying to be legalized in the UK, stating that it would negate the need for her to travel abroad for the procedure and prevent her from attempting suicide again, which she believes would burden her loved ones.
A hotly debated ‘right-to-die’ bill has stalled in Parliament over the last year.
Assisted suicide moral dilemma
Duffy has informed her siblings of her intentions through Pegasos and has made personal preparations for her death, including writing letters to loved ones and selecting a final song.
Duffy’s decision to die despite being physically healthy comes after a 25-year-old sexual g*ng r*pe victim, Noella Castillo, took her own life by assisted suicide in Spain last month, sparking an international uproar.
Similarly, Claire Brosseau, 48, a Canadian actress afflicted with debilitating mental health woes has sued for the right to assisted suicide after saying depression has made life unbearable and treatment has failed her.
The suit raises the moral dilemma who should have the right to right to end their life, after what conditions are met and whether programs offering assisted suicide should not be limited to only those afflicted with debilitating physical conditions.
