Reccently, Sir Terry Pratchett annouced his support for changing the current laws on assisted suicide offering himself as a test subject for legal euthanasia. The famous author and althzeimers sufferer was adamant that he, and all those suffering from terminal conditions should have the right to die saying "My life, my death, my choice."
His statement comes only weeks after Francis Inglis was sentanced to 10 years for ending the life of her son and Bridget Gildredale, who assisted in the death of her 31 year old daughter, was acquitted.
The Government's current guidelines on assisted suicides are both inadequate and highly unsatsifying. At best one commit the merciful act of helping a suffering indivdual die with dignity and pray to God that they will not be prosecuted for doing so. At worst, loved ones can watch as their relatives become unrecognisable, slowly and agonisingly loosing their identity untill they merely become breathing corpses waiting for death to take hold.
Sir Terry Pratchett is a man who has had first hand experience with those who suffer from terminal illness. When he was in his 50's he received the news that his father only had a year left to live. His father told him " if you ever see me in a hospital bed, surrounded by tubes and machines, tell them to switch me off." Such sentiments are widely echoed throughout society. This was demonstrated in the most reccent British Attitudes Survey in which over 80% of people agreed that an individual should have the right to decide if and when they want to end their life.
Yet despite the overwhelming public opinion to the contrary, the Care Not Killing Alliance believes that death is something that no-one should even consider. Despite the fact that care for the elderly in the UK has been described as "a care lottery" that is "both balmy and horrendous" by Michael Parkinson and Help the Aged, the Alliance believe that whilst care is still available death is NOT and option.
They state that "autonomy is not absoloute. We value living in a free society but are not free to do things that threaten the reasonable freedoms of others." It is their belief that were euthanasia to be legalised, those who requested it would feel pressured to do so, or subconsciously would not want to do so.
Such objections and concerns seem to suggest that those who support euthanasia do not recognise the importance of human life and do not place value upon the wishes and desires of patients. However, this could not be further from the truth. Whilst people such as the Care Not Killing Alliance believe that human life should be preserved at any cost, emotionally, physically and financially, those who support assisted suicide feel that it is the quality and not the quantity of life that is important. In the Richard Dimbleby lecture, Sir Terry Pratchett made it very clear that these are his own sentiments stating that "he would like to die before the disease[althzeimers] takes over."
That is not to say that anybody should be able to waltz up to his doctor, request a lethal injection and expect the doctor to whip up a concoction of leathal drugs. Current pro-euthanasia campaigners believe that euthanasia, when and if it is legalised, should be carefully monitered by the state. In order to protect vulnerable patients and prevent cases of 'forced euthanasia' any-one who wishes to invoke their right to die, must appeal to the courts whilst they are of sound mind and can prove beyond all doubt that their request is reasonable.
If such measures were in place, surely we could have the best of both worlds? A world where those who wished to die with dignity could do so, without fearing their loves ones would be prosecuted for assisting them and yet a world where the vulnerable were protected? Most importantly we would have a world where great men such as Sir Terry Pratchett, men who know their own mind, could choose to die peacefully, quietly and with dignity.
After all, isn't the freedom of choice a basic human right?
www.carenotkill.com
www.dyingwithdignity.com
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