The Peaceful Pill eHandbook Falling Foul of Assisted Suicide Laws
A significant grey area continues to exist regarding assisted suicide laws, with courts and lawyers unable to give clear and concise answers of what’s illegal and what’s not. As a result, well-intentioned people fall foul of the law.
In 2015 for example, the Irish authorities prosecuted 43-year old Dublin woman, Gail O’Rorke, for attempting to buy her friend, MS sufferer Bernadette Forde, a one-way ticket to Switzerland (for an assisted suicide at a clinic there). The public prosecutor argued that this was an act of suicide assistance. Gail would be the first person ever to be charged with assisting a suicide in Ireland. Fortunately, the jury in Dublin’s Criminal Court disagreed with the prosecution, and Gail was found ‘not guilty’. However, the State had made its point.
The authorities can be keen to prosecute those who seek to help others to die, regardless of how honourable their motives may be. Gail’s trial was reported at: http://bit.ly/IrishNewsInterview Her acquittal was reported at: https://bit.ly/gailacquittal
Gai l O’Rorke has since written a book detailing her experience at the hands of the Irish criminal justice system, Crime or Compassion? One woman’s story of a loving friendship that knew no bounds (Hatchett Books).