Edward Leigh MP, who has campaigned for the sanctity of life during his years in Parliament, has secured agreement for Euthanasia to be effectively illegal across Europe.

Speaking two weeks ago in the House of Commons Mr. Leigh said:

“There is no doubt in my mind that, if we allow assisted dying, it will eventually become encouraged exit. 

“One of the witnesses to the Falconer inquiry said: ‘I think we can only go for terminal illness at the moment, so this doesn't actually apply to the people who are probably about to go into care homes. But, you know, baby steps’. That is a chilling statement. 

“To us, this is a moral issue. We believe that the body is simply the mirror of the soul, and however old, crippled or useless someone might seem to society – our society seems to be dominated by the worship of youth and beauty – they are of immense value to society and should be sustained by society to the very end of their lives.”

Mr. Leigh, who is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, supported an amendment to a declaration that will have legal implications in the 47 member states, the Strasbourg-based organisation announced that such practices “must always be prohibited”.

The move will represent a significant achievement against those who want Britain to follow Holland, Belgium and Switzerland in allowing doctors to help end the lives of their patients.

The explicit condemnation of euthanasia was inserted into a non-binding resolution entitled: ‘Protecting human rights and dignity by taking into account previously expressed wishes of patients’.

The resolution had originally focused on the human rights questions of so-called living wills, in which people set out how they wish to be treated should they become mentally incapacitated. However, it was argued that living wills, which became legal in Britain under the 2005 Mental Capacity Act, were inextricably connected to euthanasia. An amendment was successfully moved forbidding euthanasia by 34 votes to 16 with six abstentions.

The amendment states that ‘euthanasia, in the sense of the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit must always be prohibited’.

Mr. Leigh, who represents the Gainsborough Constituency, referred to the case of Kerrie Wooltorton, a 26 year-old from Norwich, who died from poisoning in 2007, after her living will prevented doctors from resuscitating her. Mr. Leigh said: 

“Can my fellow delegates here in Strasbourg imagine how they would feel if they received a phone call informing them that one of their children had drunk poison and that ambulance and hospital staff who had everything necessary to save the child’s life stood by not helping instead as the child lay dying? That is a situation that advanced directives or living wills allow.

“This is not alarmist talk – this is the historic fact, the track record.”

The Council of Europe was set up in 1949 to further integration by harmonising human rights laws among European states, although it is unable to pass laws itself.