The wife of Tony Nicklinson, a man who died after losing his legal battle to end his life, has been given permission to appeal the High Court’s decision.
Mr Nicklinson (58) was diagnosed with “locked-in-syndrome” after suffering a stroke in 2005. He died a week after losing his legal bid in August last year to allow doctors to end his life without facing criminal charges.
Mrs Nicklinson pledged to continue the campaign fronted by her husband. But judges rejected her application for leave to appeal in October stating that they did “not consider that the proposed appeal has any real prospect of success.”
However, the Court of Appeal has now granted permission for Mrs Nicklinson to appeal the High Court’s ruling which found that the current law did not breach human rights and that it was for Parliament, not the courts, to decide whether it should be changed.
The law as it currently stands prevents doctors from ending the lives of their patients, which Mr Nicklinson had said was his only recourse.
His campaign went further in its demands than the usual push from those in support of assisted suicide, in that it sought to permit UK doctors to perform full-scale euthanasia without facing prosecution.*
Related stories:
Judges refuse to permit appeal of right-to-die case
Tony Nicklinson’s wife: The campaign continues
Judge upholds end of life laws in Tony Nicklinson case
Source:
*Assisted suicide refers to one person helping another to end their own life, usually by providing drugs or equipment to do so. Euthanasia refers to a person ending the life of another who is unable to partake in their own suicide (usually due to a paralysing condition).