Right to Die?

Right to Die? is a documentary aired on Sky Real Lives in December 2008 (rebroadcast on PBS on 2 March 2010 as "The Suicide Tourist") about the assisted suicide of Craig Colby Ewert (1947–2006), a 59-year-old retired university professor who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic laterals sclerosis). Oscar-winning Canadian John Zaritsky directed and produced the film.Right to Die? had been previously shown on Canadian and Swiss television and at film festivals without controversy.

Ewert, who lived in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England where assisted suicide is punishable by 14 years in jail, travelled to Switzerland where he was assisted by the Dignitas NGO at a rented Zurich apartment. The documentary, which covers the last four days of life, shows him dying on 26 September 2006 with Mary, his wife of 37 years, at his side. An employee of the Swiss clinic, Dignitas, can be seen preparing a lethal dose of barbiturates on camera, following which Ewert drinks it and dies. He died listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Ewert's children, Ivan and Katrina, who live in the US, decided not to attend their father's death after he expressed concerns that they would become upset.

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown, questioned in the House of Commons, hours before the documentary was screened, told MPs that he "thinks it is very important that these issues are dealt with sensitively and without sensationalism and I hope broadcasters remember that they have a wider responsibility to the general public." He further explained his position: “I believe that it’s necessary to ensure that there is never a case in the country where a sick or elderly person feels under pressure to agree to an assisted death or somehow feels it’s the expected thing to do. That’s why I’ve always opposed legislation for assisted deaths.” A spokesman for Dignity in Dying criticized Brown's statement: “Gordon Brown’s comments underline why there needs to be a full debate in Parliament on this issue.” Lord Warner, a former Health Minister, added: “Gordon Brown’s comments are not terribly helpful.... Survey after survey has shown that 75-80 per cent of the population are in favour of assisted dying for the terminally ill when their pain has become unbearable, providing there are appropriate safeguards in place.” Privately, other politicians also criticised Gordon Brown, claiming that he had breached a convention of government neutrality by expressing a view on an issue recognised as one of conscience rather than party policy.

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