Star comment: Not knowing is worse than losing
For Noel Conway, every day counts in his battle in the courts.
Mr Conway, a retired lecturer from Shrewsbury, is terminally ill with Motor Neurone Disease, and his fight to determine the manner of his passing is being watched closely because of the profound implications. He wants, while still able, to have assistance to die, so he can choose a peaceful and dignified death.
As the law stands, helping somebody to die is illegal.
After a recent setback in the courts, Mr Conway's campaign has gained new impetus thanks to a ruling by the Court of Appeal that he can contest the law in a judicial review at the High Court.
There are strongly held beliefs on both sides, with difficult moral and ethical issues to consider. The law as it stands is clear cut in what is actually a grey area which leaves a lot of people uncertain about what is right, and what is wrong. How can it be right to help somebody to die? Yet how can it be right not to help somebody to die who wishes it, and abhors the idea of being left to a cruel death?
Mr Conway has much sympathy, but no guarantee of winning. There would however perhaps be a worse fate than losing - that of not knowing, which is why this case should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
