Sir David Attenborough would consider euthanasia

Sir David Attenborough said he would consider voluntary euthanasia if his life became “wretched”.
Sir David Attenborough. Picture: PASir David Attenborough. Picture: PA
Sir David Attenborough. Picture: PA

The veteran broadcaster told Radio 4’s Costing The Earth programme that he backed the right-to-die campaign but queried the complicated moral arguments surrounding assisted dying.

Asked about whether he supported the right to die, he said: “I suppose I do really, but [only] if you could solve all the problems of dealing with the misuse of such a right.”

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The 89-year-old said he would consider voluntary euthanasia “if I was compos mentis and I was really having a wretched life”.

He added: “When you see poor people, poor in the sense of having some wretched disease, pleading for their lives to be brought to an end, it’s difficult to think that they don’t deserve to have that right.”

He added: “These issues of how long people should live are very complicated and involves not only medical issues but philosophical issues.”

The presenter also voiced his concerns about rapid population growth, noting that the number of people on earth had tripled since he began his television career in the 1950s.

Asked whether he thought the Catholic Church’s stance on contraception was wrong, he said, “Yes, I certainly do.”