I had always been a supporter of assisted dying, but I became a campaigner after a horrifying event. My life-long friend’s wife was diagnosed with a serious terminal illness, and she was one of the people in this country for whom palliative care could not help. In considerable pain she decided to end her life using a stockpile of opiates. But she didn’t die. Taken to the hospital she was kept alive and eventually returned home, a sense of regret not at her decision, but its outcome. Her mind was clearly made up - she was mentally competent, and her death was inevitable. She knew she wanted to end it and the pain she must have endured I can’t imagine. Shortly after returning home she asked her husband - my friend - to walk the dog one night. Insisting that she would be OK for 15 minutes, he left and did as she asked. During that time she put a plastic bag over her head, and knotted the strings. This time, she died. When I heard the news, and the circumstances around her death, I couldn’t comprehend the horror of what she must have experienced. I still can’t.
Life is a precious gift; of that there can be no doubt. We don’t possess it nearly long enough, and too many enjoy it far too little. Even so, it’s the one thing over which each of us should be able to exercise control. The idea that someone facing a lingering, painful death does so without recourse is abhorrent. That there’s in most places no legal, theological, and/or moral justification for assisted dying (please note that I’m refraining from referring to it as “assisted suicide”) is distressing. For anyone to believe they have the right to weigh in on how someone chooses to die is as arrogant as it is wrong. The means and timing of our death should be a decision granted each of us.
What Sir Patrick Stewart refers to as “assisted dying” should be a fundamental right available to all. No one should be forced to linger in pain and suffer through a protracted, agonizing death…if they determine that they’ve had enough and wish to die on their own terms.
Death is something guaranteed to all of us. At some point, each of us gets dragged out feet first. It’s part of the cycle of life, yet few of us are afforded the opportunity to consider the timing and nature of our death. I’m fortunate to live in Oregon, where Death With Dignity is guaranteed under the law. Oregon allows those facing the prospect of a lingering and painful death to take matters into their own hands and take control of their death. It’s not “suicide,” it’s a considered, deliberate action taken by someone who wishes to make their own decision, instead of having it made for them, possibly after enduring an extended period of unimaginable pain and suffering.
It’s easy to discuss assisted dying as if it’s an abstract concept, which it is if you’re not the one doing the suffering and dying. Unfortunately too many- particularly Conservative politicians and the Catholic Church- feel they have the right to weigh in on how a terminally ill individual should be allowed to die. Too many believe that suicide is a “mortal sin,” and as such should be prohibited. While those who hold this belief are free to do so (and hold themselves to it), they have NO moral right to demand that others be bound by it. It’s easy to talk about the “mortal sin” of assisted dying…when you’re not the one facing the death sentence.
No one should be denied the right to determine the means and timing of their death if they’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness. One can believe that life is a precious gift while also granting an individual the fundamental right to control how they die. It’s time for society- especially those who believe themselves to be moral authorities- to step back and exercise compassion by doing the right thing and legalizing assisted dying. You need not believe in the idea of assisted dying in order to grant someone who’s suffering- or facing the prospect of it- the right to make their own end of life decisions.
No one should be forced to suffer for the sake of another’s morality or religious beliefs. It’s time to allow individuals a legal avenue for making a decision they and only they should have the right to make.
