SPUC expresses concern over assisted suicide court case Westminster, 30 November, 2004 - The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children have expressed concern over a court case involving a chronically ill woman in local authority care who has asked for help to travel abroad for an assisted suicide. The Voluntary Euthanasia Society has welcomed the case, claiming that the law needs 'clarifying.' Paul Tully, SPUC's General Secretary, said: "This is yet another example of the pro-euthanasia lobby taking advantage of a vulnerable person's suffering to advance its cause, rather than offering the compassionate help this woman clearly needs. If a healthy person asks for assistance to commit suicide, it is understood that there is a problem and that the person concerned needs help to address the problem - not help to kill themselves. Doctors and paramedics will do everything in their power to save the life of an attempted suicide, the law permits a bystander to restrain a person who is about to commit suicide. Yet when a disabled person asks for help to commit suicide, some people regard it as a good thing. "The law on assisted suicide is not in need of clarification. Aiding and abetting a suicide is a crime, whether it involves preparing the lethal drug cocktail or helping a person to travel to a location where the suicide can be carried out. The council must ensure that those in their care receive the help and support they need to enjoy and value, not end, their lives. "The VES clearly wants to see this woman helped to kill herself. It is not clear whether this case has been brought by the local authority in order to avoid assisting this woman's suicide, or by the woman herself, prompted by the VES or others."