Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter admitted she fears being accused of murder after her sick mother spoke out about joining Dignitas.
The 83-year-old ChildLine founder is undergoing treatment for stage four lung cancer and says she is considering ending her life at the physician-assisted suicide clinic based in Switzerland. Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
Assisted dying opponents believe it may lead to people ending their lives out of fear of becoming a burden on their families. As the news of Dame Esther's decision hit headlines, her daughter Rebecca Wilcox appeared on TalkTV to call for a change in the law in the UK.
She revealed she fears she could be accused of murder if she helps her mother fulfil her wishes of a dignified death abroad.
Dame Esther joined Dignitas - an assisted suicide clinic (Getty Images)
Rebecca fears she could be accused of murder if she helps her mother (Getty Images)She said: "Please don't make it worse for me by accusing me of murdering her." Crosstalk hosts Kevin O'Sullivan and Alex Phillips asked her about the regulations around assisted dying. Rebecca explained it's 'legally murky'. She said: "I can't leave my children to pop off to jail while she’s buzzing off to Switzerland.
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“The fact is only three people a year get prosecuted. But the actual process of going through a court case at what is the worst time of my life so far. You know, mum is my person. I do not want to live without her. I will have to live without her and please, please don't make it worse for me by accusing me of murdering her and making me go through what would be a terrifying legal process.”
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Rebecca questioned why there is an issue around setting up regulations for assisted dying. "We have regulation around everything," she said. I've been trying to adopt a dog and the forms and licences and things that go through that is ridiculous. So death and birth are possibly the most important moments in your life.
"My death, I want it to be exactly how I want it to be and I think coming together, making a law, making structures, making regulation that respects my opinion on my body and my death for everybody is the only sane way. It would stop the money-makers who want to make money from people's death and frankly if you're going to give someone a good death, make some money out of it as long as you're helping them."
Speaking about it, Dame Esther recently said she wanted to spare her family the agony of seeing her suffer a painful death. Dame Esther said her decision was driven in part by her wish that her family's "last memories of me" are not "painful because if you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times".
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