Augustine and Thomas Aquinas had formulated the view that whoever deliberately took away the life given to them by their Creator showed the utmost disregard for the will and authority of God and jeopardised their salvation, encouraging the Church to treat suicide as a sin.

While Home Secretary Rab Butler supported the bill, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan did not.

Diane Pretty was suffering from motor neurone disease and was paralysed from the neck down, had little decipherable speech and was fed by a tube.

She had only a few weeks to live, claimed to be frightened and distressed by the suffering and indignity and wanted her husband to provide her with assistance in ending her life when she felt unable to bear it any longer, although she intended to perform the final act herself.

Article 2 of the Convention provides: This direct challenge to the legislation sought to assert an individual's right of autonomy against public policies protecting the sanctity of human life.