Esther Rantzen says she is too fragile to travel to Switzerland to end life

Dame Esther Rantzen has said she is now "too physically fragile" to travel to Switzerland to end her life at an assisted suicide clinic.

The Childline founder, who is terminally ill with cancer, first revealed in December 2023 that she had joined the Dignitas clinic.

She announced she had joined Dignitas about a year after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

"And by the time life did become unbearable, I was too physically fragile to make the journey and go through the Dignitas process.

Dame Esther added that "everything I didn't want to happen I'm having to go through now", with loved ones either unable to visit her or "see me suffering pain or indignity" when they do.

Helping someone end their life is currently considered a criminal offence across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Jersey legalised assisted dying for terminally ill adults earlier this year.

While Dame Esther, who is best known for presenting the BBC programme That's Life! for 21 years, is among several leading figures in favour of the bill, there are also campaigners against it, including Paralympian Baroness Grey-Thompson

The bill has been through several drafts and has been scrutinised by several Parliamentary committees and the House of Lords, which submitted 1,200 amendments.

It was reintroduced in this Parliament and a second vote will be held on Friday afternoon. If it passes the House of Commons, rarely invoked powers could be used, meaning it would not need the assent of the Lords to become law this time.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he would not be voting on the issue and has suggested that palliative and social care should be better funded before legalising assisted suicide is considered.

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