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High Court to hear euthanasia case
Public funding for judicial challenge
A terminally ill British woman who wants her husband to help her commit suicide has won the right to have her case heard in the High Court, and to have taxpayers subsidize her appeal.
Diane Pretty, 42, who has motor-neurone disease, asked the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to promise that her husband, Brian, would not face criminal charges if he helped her to commit suicide. (Under existing law, assisting a suicide is an offense punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment.) The DPP, David Calvert-Smith, refused to promise that he would not prosecute the case.
On the approval of one member of the High Court, Mr. Justice Silber, Petty won the right to a full hearing of her case before that body. The case will probably be heard in October.
After the preliminary hearing, Brian Pretty said, “Diane is very pleased with the outcome today because she is fighting for the right to choose when she wants to die.” Mona Arshi, Pretty’s solicitor, said the case was important to a “small but significant number of people who, though in dire circumstances and fully able to make a rational decision to end their lives, are prevented from doing so legally by their physical disability.”
But Dr. Michael Howitt Wilson, the deputy chairman of the anti-euthanasia group Alert, told the Daily Telegraph, “If we say they can be put to death, the fact that it’s ‘voluntary’ is neither here nor there.” He added, “People would be pressured into believing they were being charitable by dying, to relieve the burden on others.”
Pretty won public funding for her appeal when the Legal Services Commission reversed its previous refusal to back the case. Without such legal aid, Petty would have been unable to sustain the costs of a High Court appeal, which are estimated at $60,000.
Catholic schools swamped
No companion rise in religious practice
The British Catholic school system cannot keep up with demand, according to a report in the
Universe newspaper.
Despite the falling Mass attendance in the United Kingdom, the demand for places in Catholic schools is rising, and thousands of Catholic children are having to attend non-denominational state schools. Westminster Archdiocesan education chief, Tony Mackersie, has admitted, “We have a real problem this year.”
“Several thousand children annually don’t get a place,” he said. “We seem to be the victims of our own success but the government so far isn’t listening.”
Religious schools in Britain are largely “voluntary aided”—most funding, including teachers’ salaries, is paid by the state education authorities, but church communities pay a percentage of the costs of buildings and repairs. With much of this money coming from the weekly collection plate, this places a substantial burden on churchgoers. But most Catholic parents believe the opportunity to educate children is worth the sacrifice.
Elaine Wright, mother of a student, told the Universe, “Surely if we want to encourage the propagation of the faith in these children, money will have to be found by the Church for extra schools, classrooms, and teachers.” Her main premise may be unwarranted. According to statistics released in 1999, 92 percent of youngsters who go through the Catholic education system lapse from practicing the faith.
Punishment for pedophiles
Group suggests laicization
Britain’s National Board of Catholic Women (NBCW) is calling for all jailed clergy child abusers to be defrocked.
The NBCW, which represents 38 Catholic organizations, says that recent recommendations from the blue-ribbon “Nolan Committee” do not go far enough in calling for the laicization only of clergymen who are imprisoned for more than 12 months. In a letter to the bishops of England and Wales, the NBCW argues, “We firmly believe that any form of imprisonment should automatically bring laicization and we would therefore ask the Nolan committee to reconsider this.”
NBCW spokesman Angela Perkins told the Universe: “Most of our members are mothers and naturally there is a degree of disquiet that a cleric who has been given a sentence of less than 12 months may be allowed to stay in a parish.” The NBCW is now hoping the bishops will discuss the issue at their next meeting in November.
Back to Catholic World Report October 2001 Table of Contents