Noel Conway vs The State on Assisted Suicide

Running head: NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................2
Answer 1......................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2......................................................................................................................................3
Answer 3......................................................................................................................................5
Part II...............................................................................................................................................6
Answer 1......................................................................................................................................6
Answer 2......................................................................................................................................7
Answer 3......................................................................................................................................9
Reference list:................................................................................................................................11

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Part 1
Answer 1
Euthanasia, assisted suicide, mercy killing are all terms to explain the same case. People
who are in a medical state where they are unable their cure is not possible they may ask for the
mercy killing1. This is where he or she shall be assisted to die with the consent of the court. This
is a case that has been in the discussion among the judiciary system for a while now2.
Noel Douglas Conway is 67 years old and has been suffering from Motor Neurone
Disease (MND) diagnosed in 2012. In order to understand the gravity of the situation it is
essential to know about the syndrome that he was suffering form. In this condition where the
nerve cells which are responsible for voluntary muscle actions are attacked. With time the nerve
cells degenerates and weakens the average life expectancy of a person is in between two –three
years3.
The case that has been developed is when Mr. Conway wishes to end his life at a time
when he chooses. He wishes for this when he would expect his life expectancy to reduce to six to
four months. According to Mr Conway, he did not want his life to reduce to a quality where he
did not find any peace or enjoyment. He wanted to have a dignified death at the time that he
wanted, and during a state where he is conscious about the decisions that he is making. The team
argued that not only will the appeal of Mr. Conway will help him to pass away in a dignified
manner but will also help others who are in a similar state to express their wish.
1 Rachels, James. "The end of life: euthanasia and morality." (1987).
2 Rachels, James. "Active and passive euthanasia." Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and
Practice (1975): 77-82.
3 Judiciary.uk. Judiciary.Uk, 2017, https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/conway-v-justice-
secretary-judgment.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2018.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
In the given scenario one of the major issues is that the right of Mr. Conway regarding
the autonomy of choosing the time of his death is being curbed by the article 2 which puts a ban
on the assisted suicide. The issue with the case is the fact that the person who is undergoing the
treatment should be kept under the care as long as he can before being subject to the harsh reality
of the death that he has to face. There is also an issue in the deciding the fact that if the person
should solely be given the right to choose the time and the condition of his death and in case it is
put forward in the society what would be the long term implications of such a judgment on the
society.
One of the major causes of the interpretive issues is the fact that the court has to consider
the overall implication of the decision on the whole society if it allows the people to decide the
time of their death through the assisted suicide. One of the major issues in this context is the fact
that the different people have different kind of medical and other complications and they may or
may not be fit to decide the condition of their death so it will not be good to put it on the whim of
a person who may be undergoing psychological and the medical effects of the disease.
Answer 2
The interpretation of the case by the court has major role to play in the decision that is
being taken by the court. In the case the decision of the bench was in the favour of the
preservation of the sanctity of the human life so that the people in the society do not take the ill
decision of always ending their life. It was seen the number of people opted for assisted suicide
because of the fact they were facing painful situation and they were not able to cope up with it.
The UK laws believe in the importance of the human life and therefore prohibit the allowance of
death to the people under any circumstance4. The very idea of the autonomy of the deciding to
4 Dyer, Clare. "Man with advanced MND loses challenge for an assisted death." (2017): j4631.