I’m joining an increasing number of people in the world who want the right to die. I want the right to decide when my life can end. In my case I don’t mean suicide, and I don’t mean avoiding the pains of living, I mean dying on my own terms with dignity to preserve the purpose of my life and to avoid being a burden to those around me. In 1997 Switzerland was the only country were assisted dying was legal. Now 11 countries and 10 US states allow it. It has several names and no matter what name it is given, it is still very controversial. In the UK for example, where only 35% of Parliament favors such a law, and of course in socially conservatives US states, such laws will not be enacted in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless much progress in this area has been made, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, the Netherlands, Columbia, Germany, Austria, Portugal, five Australian States have legalized it. What is very interesting to me is that countries which are largely Catholic like Ireland, Chile, Italy and Uruguay are in the middle of legislation that will legalize it. The impetus behind this movement is credited to the many people who have witnessed loved ones suffer because of chronic or incurable illnesses, and too the fear that this could happen to them. The state of Oregon became an example in 2015 when it passed the Death with Dignity Act, which has been copied by several countries and several states. Classical liberalism invokes the right to self-ownership and the sovereignty of the individual, that is not what motivates me, nor do I think what motivates most. Personally I do not want to live without a sense of purpose, if I can no longer do my work, then my life as I understand it is finished. Others want to be able to have a certain quality of life, be conscious, be able to greet others, still others want to be able to make their own decisions. Motives may vary, but the issue is the same, we want the right to have a say when and how we die. And that movement, I’m happy to say is gaining.
Tag: right to die
Euthanasia for Children?
Euthanasia for children? The whole idea sounds forbidding to say the least, and probably criminal to some. But let us put aside any initial reaction. Is it forbidding because it is for children, because it is euthanasia, or perhaps because one compounds the other? We live in a country where euthanasia is not only generally illegal, in many circles it is also a big no-no. It is illegal in most of Europe too, but the Netherlands and Belgium have been trailblazers. Euthanasia has been legal there since 2002. In the Netherlands, children over 12 can request euthanasia with their parents’ consent. And parents of children under one can request it. That left children from one to 12. It’s been a contentious debate and a long one, but now the Netherlands has approved euthanasia for children one to 12. They estimate that it will affect 5 to 10 children a year. These are children who have a terminal illness, and whose suffering is unendurable. To be honest, I would be among those who would want to spare my child. I would hate it, would agonize about the decision, but ultimately would realize that is the best of bad alternatives. I realize that euthanasia for children adds to a core idea behind the right to die with dignity which gave rise to euthanasia and that is that children do not have the same voice about their fate—an idea which adds to the gravitas of it all. But parents who would make a request for their child, would rarely if ever do so without much soul searching. If one accepts the premise of dying with dignity, of having a say in one’s own end, and in the fact (which to me personally is at the heart of it) that life is more than biology, then euthanasia for children seems a logical follow up for a country who has already accepted it.