A widow who witnessed her husband end his life at a Swiss clinic after a motor neurone disease diagnosis is now championing a change in UK law, following her own diagnosis with the same incurable condition.
A Devastating Double Diagnosis
In a tragic twist of fate, Barbara Shooter, 69, learned she has MND less than three years after her husband, railway executive Adrian Shooter, 74, died from the disease in December 2022. Adrian ended his life at the Pegasos assisted dying clinic in Basel, with Barbara holding him as he self-administered a fatal intravenous drug, 18 months after his diagnosis.
Now facing her own battle, Mrs Shooter has launched a strong critique of what she calls 'reprehensible filibustering' in the House of Lords. This parliamentary tactic threatens to block The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was passed by MPs in June.
Political Battle and Personal Anguish
The bill's architect, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, has accused peers of tabling over 1,000 'totally unnecessary' and 'very cruel' amendments in a bid to derail it. Supporters are concerned that time will run out to debate these amendments before the parliamentary session ends, risking the bill's collapse.
Barbara Shooter, who describes MND as a 'messy, brutal, nasty, vile disease', stated her position clearly. 'Quite frankly, if I get to a stage when I think I can't carry on... I will go to Switzerland,' she told the Sunday Times. 'But what about everybody else? What about people who haven't got £15,000?... It's about choice.'
Rare Coincidence and a Call for Compassion
The chance of a married couple both contracting MND, which affects roughly one in 100,000 people, is extremely rare. Mrs Shooter's consultant said he had only seen it once before. Adrian Shooter's condition left him entirely dependent on his wife, with severe respiratory issues, an inability to swallow or hold his head up, and diminishing speech.
He left pre-prepared letters explaining his decision, writing: 'If I had not done this, I would have been condemned to months or quite possibly years of being confined to bed, unable to do anything for myself.' Barbara fears a similar fate, not wanting her grandchildren to remember her as 'the stick woman in the corner.'
If passed, the bill would allow adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to seek an assisted death, subject to approvals from two doctors and a specialist panel. However, it faces opposition from disability rights campaigners and some religious groups.
Mrs Shooter condemned the delaying tactics in the Lords as 'deeply shocking' and 'making a mockery of democracy.' Should the bill become law, the government would have four years to establish a service, meaning the first legal assisted deaths might not occur until 2029 or 2030.
