Thursday, January 11, 2007
Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me When I'm 63?
Bill Starr is back in the news with this latest stunt in his crusade to kill his wife:
Maureen Starr (63) has Alzheimer's Disease and can no longer recognise her husband, Bill.
As exclusively revealed in last week's Dispatch, Bill (76) wants to end Maureen's life and is campaigning for a change in the law to allow voluntary euthanasia.
He said this week: "I want the Queen to see how a failure by her government to act has left my girl having to live on in a truly pitiful condition.
"This photo expresses my feelings more than I could in a thousand words. It is the face of suffering."
Bill has previously written to Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Lord Chancellor's Office and even Prince Charles to press his case.
Maureen has been a resident of Lowmoor Nursing Home at Kirkby-in-Ashfield for the last 18 months.
The events are related somewhat differently in this lastest account:
...last week, the Dispatch reported on a heartrending visit by Bill to the home with the aim of ending Maureen's life by mercy killing.
"I don't want to say how I planned to do it," said Bill. "But I took two changes of clothes because I was prepared for the police to come and arrest me.
"However a nurse told me my wife's brain is dying. That changed everything because she is now in the hands of God."
Bill stressed that he felt no bitterness towards the home for banning him from seeing his wife alone in case he might still try to kill her.
But he is planning a heartfelt appeal to all the country's general medical practices.
He wants them to withhold sending Alzheimer's patients to homes for the elderly mentally ill until two guarantees are put in place.
One is for the option of voluntary euthanasia and the other is one-to-one care to protect patients from "dangers seen and unseen".
From this addled narrative I've begun to suspect that Bill may in fact be a harmless crank in terms of being a direct danger to his wife. But the threat should be taken seriously for the sake of his wife's safety. And based on the tone of these articles there is a great danger to all the disabled and elderly in the UK that Bill will become the media star that helps usher in euthanasia. It's starting to seem inevitable.
Maureen Starr (63) has Alzheimer's Disease and can no longer recognise her husband, Bill.
As exclusively revealed in last week's Dispatch, Bill (76) wants to end Maureen's life and is campaigning for a change in the law to allow voluntary euthanasia.
He said this week: "I want the Queen to see how a failure by her government to act has left my girl having to live on in a truly pitiful condition.
"This photo expresses my feelings more than I could in a thousand words. It is the face of suffering."
Bill has previously written to Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Lord Chancellor's Office and even Prince Charles to press his case.
Maureen has been a resident of Lowmoor Nursing Home at Kirkby-in-Ashfield for the last 18 months.
The events are related somewhat differently in this lastest account:
...last week, the Dispatch reported on a heartrending visit by Bill to the home with the aim of ending Maureen's life by mercy killing.
"I don't want to say how I planned to do it," said Bill. "But I took two changes of clothes because I was prepared for the police to come and arrest me.
"However a nurse told me my wife's brain is dying. That changed everything because she is now in the hands of God."
Bill stressed that he felt no bitterness towards the home for banning him from seeing his wife alone in case he might still try to kill her.
But he is planning a heartfelt appeal to all the country's general medical practices.
He wants them to withhold sending Alzheimer's patients to homes for the elderly mentally ill until two guarantees are put in place.
One is for the option of voluntary euthanasia and the other is one-to-one care to protect patients from "dangers seen and unseen".
From this addled narrative I've begun to suspect that Bill may in fact be a harmless crank in terms of being a direct danger to his wife. But the threat should be taken seriously for the sake of his wife's safety. And based on the tone of these articles there is a great danger to all the disabled and elderly in the UK that Bill will become the media star that helps usher in euthanasia. It's starting to seem inevitable.
papijoe 2:12 PM
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