London:
A court in Britain has acquitted a mother who helped her terminally ill daughter die.
This has re-ignited the debate about mercy killing in a country that has not legalised euthanasia unlike countries like Switzerland.
"I really, really want to die. I've had enough of being in so much pain." These were the words of 31-year-old Lynn, who suffered from a severe form of chronic fatigue syndrome and had been bed-ridden for 17 years.
She had attempted to take her own life twice but failed. She begged her mother to help her end her suffering.
Her 55-year-old mother Kay Gilderdale, who said she felt her heart was being ripped apart, gave her a mixture of drugs that helped her die in 2008.
She was charged with attempted murder but a court in Britain let her walk free saying it was in the interests of common sense, decency and humanity.
Contrast this to another recent case where a mother was jailed for murder when she injected her brain-damaged son with a lethal dose of heroin.
The key difference in this case was that the mother did not have and could not have had her comatose son's consent.
It highlights some of the difficulties of the right to die debate but public opinion in this country has overwhelmingly been supportive of people wanting to end the suffering of their loved ones.
This has re-ignited the debate about mercy killing in a country that has not legalised euthanasia unlike countries like Switzerland.
"I really, really want to die. I've had enough of being in so much pain." These were the words of 31-year-old Lynn, who suffered from a severe form of chronic fatigue syndrome and had been bed-ridden for 17 years.
She had attempted to take her own life twice but failed. She begged her mother to help her end her suffering.
Her 55-year-old mother Kay Gilderdale, who said she felt her heart was being ripped apart, gave her a mixture of drugs that helped her die in 2008.
She was charged with attempted murder but a court in Britain let her walk free saying it was in the interests of common sense, decency and humanity.
Contrast this to another recent case where a mother was jailed for murder when she injected her brain-damaged son with a lethal dose of heroin.
The key difference in this case was that the mother did not have and could not have had her comatose son's consent.
It highlights some of the difficulties of the right to die debate but public opinion in this country has overwhelmingly been supportive of people wanting to end the suffering of their loved ones.
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