I went to the wedding of two friends on Saturday who, like millions of couples before them, took vows to love and serve each other 'for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death parts us or Christ comes again.'

Most people don't have the bit about 'until Christ comes again,' and if some people have their way, 'in sickness and in health' may not be all that common in the future either. Yet again in the news we have the story of another selfish individual who wants his wife to be allowed to help him die without the risk of being prosecuted for murder.

Tony Nicklinson, just 56 years old, was left paralysed below the neck and unable to speak after a stroke five years ago. Lawyers for the family plan on arguing that the current murder law infringes Mr Nicklinson's rights to respect for his private life under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 8.1 reads:

• Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

Note, however, how it continues in 8.2:

• There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. [italics mine]

As Professor John Wyatt argues in our current Cambridge Paper, Euthanasia and assisted suicide, the legal prohibitions against homicide and assisting suicide provide a practical and powerful defence for relatives and for health professionals to resist the coercive power of manipulative relationships:

'A common feature of assisted suicide stories reported in the media has been the manipulative influence of the suffering individual. On many occasions the sufferer appears to have coerced and manipulated unwilling relatives and loved ones to assist in the final act of self-destruction. Relatives can find themselves caught between repugnance at the deliberate taking of life, a sense of failure in their duty of love and care, and a sense of personal loyalty to their loved one, however much they disagree with their wishes. ... In this fraught emotional context, a legal prohibition on assisting suicide serves as protection for carers and health professionals.'

Later, he continues: 'In a civilised society we frequently accept restrictions on our rights of autonomy in order to protect the interests of those who are more vulnerable than ourselves. The small number of individuals who long for a legalised way to end their lives should be prepared to forgo their demands in the interests of the many vulnerable elderly in our midst.'

Mr Nicklinson's complaint is that he has 'no privacy or dignity left' and that he is 'washed, dressed and put to bed by carers who are, after all, still strangers.' So much for love! The reality is that we are all dependent on others the whole of our lives, even at the times when we experience the greatest sense of independence. It is not just babies and children who are completely dependent on the love and care of their parents; it is not just the elderly and the sick who are often dependent on the love and assistance of family, friends and healthcare professionals. We would all soon cease to exist without the support and fellowship of those we interact with on a daily basis. And we would all find our mental and physical health deteriorating in a vacuum of relationships.

This truth obviously horrifies people who have lived their lives as an expression of self-determination and self-reliance. How much more inspiring was the example of Richard Rudd, revealed last week on the BBC documentary 'Between Life and Death'? Richard had always said that if anything happened to him, the last thing he wanted was to be kept alive on a life-support machine. So, when he was left paralysed and brain damaged from a motorbike accident, his family gave permission for treatment to be withdrawn by Addenbrooke’s Hospital here in Cambridge. However, staff on the Neuro Critical Care Unit found he was able to move his eyes and, in response to questions, he repeatedly indicated to them that he wanted to carry on living. Nine months on, Mr Rudd can now move his head from side to side and smile at his family—arguably, even more 'locked-in' or 'trapped' inside his own body than Mr Nicklinson, but perhaps in many ways, so much more free.

'What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!' (Romans 7:24-25)

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