Tony Nicklinson, who asked the High Court to grant his wife or a doctor the freedom to end his life has died days after the verdict which refused his petition.
And already the pro-euthanasia vultures are circling.
Mr Nicklinson had been refusing food for up to seven days after learning the outcome of his appeal last week. He developed pneumonia and deteriorated rapidly. In 2004 Mr Nicklinson issued an advanced directive refusing any life sustaining treatment should he fall ill.
Paradoxically, Mr Nicklinson’s wife said that the fight had gone out of him after the verdict. He had in a sense lost the will to live. When he died, around 10am on Wednesday morning, his wife, daughters Lauren and Beth and his sister Ginny were by his side.
Nicklinson developed ‘locked-in’ syndrome after a stroke. He wanted the court to agree to his request for an assisted suicide, saying that he had been condemned to a life which was ‘worse than death’.
Other victims of locked in syndrome have adopted a more positive outlook despite sympathy for the points Tony Nicklinson made in Court. Michael and Wendy Cubiss, for example, bravely told the BBC that there are some positive factors. And the maxim remains that where there is life there is hope. No one can deny the possibility of a miracle.
Last week, three High Court judges ruled that they did not have the power to grant Mr Nicklinson’s request for a doctor to be given immunity from prosecution for murder by giving him a lethal dose of painkillers. It would be wrong, they said, for the court to depart from the long-established legal position that ‘voluntary euthanasia is murder, however understandable the motives may be’. Lord Justice Toulson said that it was not the place of the courts to ‘usurp the function of Parliament’.
Euthanasia campaigners have mounted a sustained campaign over many years with the result that MPs and peers have debated euthanasia on a number of occasions. The present case will provide a useful handle for them to revisit the matter. Labour peer Lord Joffe has already aired his view that Tony Nicklinson’s ‘incredible courage’ will ‘eventually lead to a change in the law’. The persistent euthanasia campaigner, who has previously presented assisted suicide bills, said the law needs to be changed and ‘MPs are not listening to society’.
However, each time the matter has been debated in Parliament legislators have agreed with disability rights campaigners that there would be little or no protection for the elderly and vulnerable if the law changed to satisfy a small number of very hard and very tragic cases. They have not done so out of cowardice, as Mr Nicklinson alleged, but out of deep consideration for the wider implications.
Stephen Green, National Director of ChristianVoice, said today: ‘We had the greatest sympathy for Tony Nicklinson’s predicament but we welcomed the court verdict. His terrible ordeal is now at an end. It is only Almighty God who has the right to create and take life. In the end Mr Nicklinson has had his wish granted by a higher authority than any on this earth.’
Join Christian Voice, or just have a look at whether to:
Dear Stephen – many thanks for the 2 articles concerning Tony Nicklinson and Anders Breivik.
Naturally we all agree that if the youth camp were “celebrating and endorsing the anti-Israel terrorism of Hamas”, that doesn’t condone the evil perpetrated by Breivik, however, aware that the 2 articles are entirely different, you state above that “only Almighty God … has the right to create and take life”.
So should we take the life of Anders Breivik if only He has that right. I agree with your comments re Mr Nicklinson (look at how the abortion floodgates were opened – euthanasia floodgates would have been opened wide with a different verdict by the High Court Judges).
Many Christians myself included would not bat an eye lid if Breivik were given a lethal injection or sent to an electric chair. Only last week i was debating with friends how the death sentence could be applied in certain circumstances from a biblical basis.
On a different note, all born again true believers in Yeshua MUST unite in their stance to condemn anti Israel bias and eradicate mounting anti Semitism and to comfort and support Israel. A political youth camp on a little known island in Norway served to indoctrinate and strengthen anti semitism but ended with a blood bath. Lord – have mercy.
Hi Stephen, believe it or believe it not but I did pray that the Lord would take over in his case and take him out of this life. He was obviously very disturbed by his codition. Dave H.
Yes God gives and he takes away. No man should have the right to murder
Once I agree with your understanding of Scripture. Nobody has the right to take life not even their own.
When you say that only Almighty God has the right to take life, does this mean that you are a pacifist completely opposed to war or even capital punishment under any circumstances ?
I don’t think it does, so perhaps you ought to consider rewording this, before the media drawer their own conclusions from your statement.
No, because the state has a duty to defend its citizens from aggression without and within.
As to capital punishment, look at our post on Anders Breivik! If someone is soundly and properly convicted of course (ie, eg, not on the sole evidence of Sir Roy Meadows), the judicial death penalty by the state is not murder, it is divine restorative justice. It is a command by God to the descendants of Noah (that’s all of us) for perpetuity, or for as long as there is a rainbow in the sky:
Gen 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Gen 9:12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
That makes sense for Christians in a Christian country. But supposing the judge is an atheist (which is perfectly possible), supposing the majority of Parliament is not really Christian (which is probably true now), supposing the prime minister is not really Christian (which some of them may well not have been, and self-confessed atheists are possible in the near future); supposing even that a king is not really a Christian (which some have arguably not been, and we could get a king who was an atheist, even if he didn’t say much about it). What then ?
I know atheists who are quite worried about having Chrisian righteousness imposed on them. An example of this might be homosexual marriage in Scotland. Why exactly should the Roman Catholic church expect to forbid it for anybody who wants it, even if they are not Roman Catholics and Scotland as a whole is prepared to allow it ?
However, it is clear that a non-Christian country might very well oppose the death penalty no matter what was promised to Noah, and this has happened virtually everywhere of any importance except the USA and China. What would you expect then to happen in those countries where divine restorative justice has been thwarted by the population ?
3 Not by the population, old thing. There has never been any popular demand for abolition of the death penalty. The elite just did it on their own authority.
2 Those atheists shouldn’t be too worried as it is they who are imposing their unrighteousness on everyone else these days!
1 Too many supposings!
In a democratic country, old thing, what gets done is ultimately the decision of the population, but it is impossible and undesirable to consult them on every point, and I am certain that it would not suit you to do so. For one thing, they would be overwhelmingly in favour of euthanasia.
Let’s change my style a little, to cut it down to just one “supposing” for your convenience. Supposing the bulk of the electorate and the people whom they elected were not real Christians but this still resulted in having no death penalty, as no doubt it would because the élite did not do this on their own authority, they did it on the authority of their elected positions even as things are now.
We are not so very far from this one supposing. If it happened, would the State then be right to ignore what was written in an old book which most people no longer held to be sacred ?
‘In a democratic country, old thing, what gets done is ultimately the decision of the population.’
And not that of a cabal of unelected civil servants, bien pensants, big money oligarchs and their puppets in the Cabinet? In a sense, it is refreshing to hear such trust and naivete.
The Bible records the people giving a democratic mandate to the covenenat, but the Lord warns Moses:
Exod 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
The Apostle Paul tells us:
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rulers are under the authority of God whether they accept that or not and they are charged by the Almighty to do right.
The problems with euthanasia may need explaining better, and a lot depends on how you ask the opinion poll question (SEE HERE), but my point was that on those issues, there was no public demand for the liberalising measures brought in during the sixties.
Even now, MP’s postbags are not awash with letters callig for the legalisation of assisted suicide. It is just a few well-heeled individuals like Lord Joffe pushing it.
So you believe that democracy is impossible, and are indeed against it on Biblical grounds. A point which no doubt Christian Democrat parties would contest.
You have more in common with President Putin than I realised. As the ruler of Russia, he is like the Czars before him only answerable to Almighty God.
Where I find it difficult to go along with you is to hold that (say) Chairman Mao or Mr Nehru were “under the authority of God whether they accept that or not” and that they were “charged by the Almighty to do right”.
This seems to be putting yourself above powerful world leaders and anything which the vast majority of their countrymen might believe about them and their national constitution. It seems somehow unreasonable to do this. The United Nations would not come out with such a statement.
We do not actually have democracy in this land. We have an self-perpetuating oligarchy. Most MPs, those in safe seats, are chosen not by the people but by party cabals. Elections happen every four or five years, and in between those in power do what they want. Gay marriage, for example, was not in any party manifesto but the secularists in power are imposing it on all of us anyway.
You have misunderstood me if you think I am putting myself above world leaders. I said the Bible puts Almighty God above world leaders. There is a difference!
As for the United Nations wheeled out as an authority, words fail me.
Democracy is not the making of every decision by a referendum. It is the choosing by an electorate (not necessarily everybody) of representatives to make all the decisions up until the next election. Almost anybody can stand for election, but obviously if a candidate wants to represent a political party, he will have to be chosen by that party. I don’t see how else it could work.
When you admit “I SAID the Bible puts Almighty God above world leaders”, this is something which you said, it is not evident to many world leaders or all their people. Chairman Mao or Mr Nehru would have disagreed with you, so you ARE putting yourself above world leaders when you insist on this.
By “authority”, I did not mean somebody imbued with authoritarian powers, like a pope or an African president. It’s all a question of democracy again. The United Nations Organisation is a sort of council and civil service established as democratically as is reasonably possible in an imperfect world to represent the countries which “elect” it, that is the whole world. In fact I didn’t call it an “authority”, you did ! So I don’t really understand your point on this. I merely said that the United Nations would not tell world leaders that they are “under the authority of God whether they accept that or not”, and this is absolutely true ! I could have phrased it that the United Nations do NOT have the authority to do that, so again, I don’t see your point, I’m afraid.
I find it very difficult to know which camp to dwell in. On the one hand the scriptures are clear and should take precedence. On the other hand, I had a very painful illness earlier this year and it occurred to me that were I to be told that my condition was incurable and that there was no relief for the pain, I should quite probably want to end my life because the pain made living quite unbearable. My distress lasted only ten days and I cannot imagine how anyone could put up with a similar level of suffering for years.
Having said that, I think that on balance the verdict of the high court judges was right and I hope that Lord Joffe’s presentiment will not come to light..
We don’t need euthenasia. We need to pray. I prayed for God to intervene in the case of Tony Nickleson and I believe my prayers were answered. My mum in law sadly died in 2010. She had been diagnosed with Motor Neorone disease and could not move, speak or swallow. Although was very frightened. I prayed for her as well and she did not suffer very long before God took her. We need to look to God in these cases.
My concern for the late Tony Nicklinson is that he died without knowing the Lord, and as a result, may well spend eternity in a far worse state than any that this life can ‘throw at you’ , indeed as it happened to him. I had the greatest empathy for him and I would send my condolences to his loved ones.
But I agree there should be no change in the law.
A change could lead to euthanasia being used abusively against people who don’t really want to die.
It is similar to the law being changed forty-five years ago to legalise abortion. That was based on the mother’s life being in danger. What have we witnessed since then? Abortion, at the very least, as a crude form of birth control on innocent, defenceless foetuses who did not ask to be born but for couples’ one-night stands. Why else does the Bible say ‘Flee fornication’. All in the cause of ‘A woman’s right to choose’. It’s easy to be pro–choice when you’re not the one (victim) being chosen’.
If the church is 2 B a voice for the voiceless, surely foetuses also deserve a voice ..
When I was 17 I became pregnant due to my boyfriend and I making one mistake. This was in 1968 when, I believe, the law for the woman’s right to choose had come into being? After being examined and made to feel like dirt by the doctor I was given a tablet by him who said that should I start my period then I was not pregnant, I also had a pregnancy test, which back then you had to wait for the results. I took the tablet not thinking anything of it at the time, now whether the tablet was the ‘morning after’ pill which is now available I have no idea as he did not say that to me. I went on to get married and give birth to my eldest son. Ten years later, after getting divorced, I ended up pregnant again due to problems with the durex bursting. I was in an abusive relationship and he was a refugee so there was a language barrier too and in all honesty I did not know if he would be around very long which would have left me with 3 children on my own. This led me to seek an abortion. The day I went to the hospital to be examined and considered for the abortion I felt my baby move. They agreed to do the abortion but I realised I could not go through with it regardless of my circumstances as I had a child inside me and I could not kill it.
At that time I was not a Christian except in name only ‘I was C of E’ my mother told me when I asked her what I was in order to put it on the forms at the hospital and always thought of myself as a Christian.
After becoming a born again Christian at the age of 47 I praise God that my youngest son kicked when he did and that I did not go through with the abortion and that the pill I had been given when I was 17 did not cause me to lose my first son. I am so against abortion and euthanasia, we do not have the right to take a child’s or anyone else’s life and we should not expect someone else to to sin and do it for us.
My friends mother was dying of cancer and was told there was nothing that could be done to help her but give her pain relief. She was eventually put in a home for palliative care. My friend had been told that her mother did not know she was there and that she could not feel any pain. They had stopped giving her fluids and the only thing left for her was some lemon buds for someone to moisten her mouth with. My friend told me that she had taken in a flannel to moisten with cold water and her mother had started sucking on it. It had vanished by the next time she went to visit.
My friend asked me to go with her to see her mum as she was not sure if she was saved or not. We prayed and then I told her mum I was going to say the sinners prayer for her and that all she had to do was say amen at the end if she agreed with what I had said. This woman whom the doctors had said did not know if anyone was there was listening and at the end came into agreement and said Amen. Praise God for this privilege and the life saved.
Tony Nichlinson wanted to end his life, he should not have expected anyone to help him. By not eating or drinking the body shuts down itself, which is what happened to him and my friends mum in the end. He did not have to leave anyone with the sin of murder on their hands he could have done it any time he wanted to as can anyone who decides their life is not worth living. It is so sad that he did not know the Lord who could have helped him through these difficult times.
We often pray for people to be healed from physical or mental illness, I myself suffer with fibromyalgia and I look after my brother who has vascular dementia. If He doesn’t do it we have to remember that He is Sovereign and He is the one that decides if we are healed or not. We do not always understand why some are healed and some not but there is a reason for all things and when we get to heaven we will be able to see ‘The big picture’ and the reasons why things happen.
2 examples – a friend in my house group had been prayed for over and over again regarding her hip which she was waiting to have replaced, she was in extreme pain with her leg popping out all the time. then one night God healed her and now she does not need her hip replacing and can walk and jump without any problem and does not need her walking stick any more. The hospital did not know what to put down on their records regarding this – they were reluctant to say God did it!
A friend of mine had a stroke and was in hospital in a comma. She was devoted to the Lord and had been ill for many years with various things resulting in her needing to be in a wheel chair most of the time and slowly losing her speech yet she still praised the Lord through all this. I was praying for her to be healed after the stroke and for the glory to go to God. Then while I was visiting she opened her eyes and asked the best she could where she was. She could only open one eye as one half of her face was paralysed and she realised this. I could see she was upset and so comforting her I told her the Lord could heal her. She never opened her eyes or communicated with anyone ever again. While I was out walking with my dogs the next day and praying for her I felt the Lord say ‘Let her go’. You see I believe the Lord was answering mine and others prayers by keeping her alive but it was not His will that she should live. It was time for her to go to Him, I realised that in His mercy He didn’t want her to suffer any more and that I was being very selfish ‘with what I thought was good intentions’, she died the day before my birthday. God knows best and we do not need euthanasia.
I agree that if euthanasia is given legal status there will be far more ‘legal murders’, particularly for the elderly or infirm or people with dementia as they will not be able to fight for themselves, as I believe could have happened to my friends mother. I was not involved in the beginning only at the end and she died within a few days of my visit.
I have seen how people with dementia can deteriorate when in hospital and can see how easy it would be to withdraw food and water from them and let them die. If my sister and I had not taken it in turns to visit my brother each day when he was in hospital he would not have had anything to drink for 6 days due to them only giving him a feeder cup for his drinks, which he did not know how to use, despite my telling them every day that they should give him an ordinary cup. How many more has this happened to I wonder and there are other things that have happened to him and to others which could have had serious consequences. I have raised this with the NHS and an investigation is being undertaken.
I feel I cannot comment on the death penalty, I believe Gods Word is the truth but I do not know it sufficiently to comment on this. I know that Jesus came to fulfil the law and not take it away. He also said that it was written ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ but he then said for us to ‘love our neighbour as ourselves’ and to help those who do evil against us, defeating evil with good (my wording). I don’t know how many people have come to know the Lord after being put in prison and I don’t know if Breivik will ever come to repentance for what he did. I am not his judge but I do know that he will one day meet his maker and will be answerable to Him as we all will.
I hope this helps someone out there to realise that legalising euthanasia is not the answer but the beginning of a downward spiral in humanity.
God bless
Janet
The courts did make the right decision. Murder is murder. Someone made the comment that if euthanasia or assisted suicide was brought in, then as well as Praying outside the abortion mills, we would also be holding Prayer vigils outside the euthanasia mills. Doesnt bear thinking about. Of course I feel sympathy towards anyone who is suffering, but why did Mr. Nicklinson want a second party to commit murder when he obviously had the ability to end his life through starvation. It is not only putting your own Soul at risk because of the suicide, which means self-murder, but also getting a second party to do the same through actual murder..
Hi all, We live in dificult times when Christian principles are not believed or kept by the majority of the human race. However, to know the Lord is a wonderful thing. However it is not always possible to tell even those who profess to be Christians of the prayers He has answered for us. It doesn’t even need to be a prayer in the true sense of the word it may just be a fleeting thought. However I know that He has led my life and has saved me from trouble and even death on occasion. Unfortunately some people take it as superspirituality of even bragging. Paul had these things in the early churches he founded and warned the congregations to beware of infighting.
[…] Locked-in man dies after losing case […]