Sunday, October 25, 2009

KILL ME SOFTLY

Frequently here in the UK there is media discussion about euthanasia. At present, it is illegal, as is assisted suicide. Many people from here have gone to Dignitas in Switzerland to end their suffering. Those who accompany them are open to prosecution.

Those who agree that my right to end my life should remain withheld by law, lie. Why? They trot out the same arguments time and time again. The most pernicious lie being that no one need die in pain with good palliative care. NONSENSE. Even my Doctor, also a practising Christian, will tell you that over 30% people do not have their pain relieved by medicine.

I know of someone whose only pain relief was to have her spinal cord cut so she could not feel. She spent her time time dying unable to move. Now wasn't that a loving to do? Pish!

Then you get the argument from those with disabilities (I am one) who argue that if we allow people to have their rights respected, to be truly loved and cared for, and therefore be helped to die when the time is right and of OUR choosing, it will leave it open for people to go around killing people, especially the disabled, willy nilly. Bollocks.

Quite simply, if I choose to end my life, and I need help to do so, and I have someone willing to help me, then that is my RIGHT. By changing the law one is only giving me BACK my rights! As it is, in a democracy where Human Rights are supposedly sacrosanct, this right has been taken away.

This is my only fear about dying. That I will fall into the hands of control freaks who will insist I die in pain just so that their own ideas are held up.
If you believe it is wrong to end your own life, for whatever reason, fine by me. But how DARE you force that belief on to me and on to others? If I allowed one of my dogs to suffer and die the way many people are forced to, I would be prosecuted for cruelty, and rightly so.

There are those of a religious persuasion who say that euthanasia is playing God. well, so is all medical intervention if you think like that. Next time you have a an infection, don't take the antibiotics and take your chances. Need a bypass? Don't have it. Do not interfere with God's plan. Lets go back to the days of very high infant mortality, when children were lucky to live till 15 years old, and where life expectancy meant that I am ancient at 50!

The present laws are cruel and inhumane. Those of us who wish the laws to be changed are not asking for special treatment, just that our right to determine our own lives be restored to us.

I enjoy my life and I have no present intention of ending it. However, I see no 'greater good' in dying painfully and without dignity. By that I mean I see nothing to be gained by needing to be cared for as a baby again, to be unable to function, or think, or make my own decisions.

Oh and the way things stand now, the only way to end your life without involving anyone else, is to end it whilst there is still plenty of good life to be had because one would have to do it whilst one is sure one can without help. So those who deny us this help are effectively making sure we have shorter lives. So much for their belief in life.

The idea that someone I love will be left to die horribly is appalling to me. It DOES happen. I know it does. I have seen it. No amount of care and drugs can stop it. Have you thought what it must be like to vomit your own faeces because you have bowel cancer and it can't pass thru the normal way? Have you thought about the agony of growths inside your bones? What sort of God or person would think this is a good way to die? Or think that is how it must be?
Then of course, without medical interference, many would die long before the agony got that high.

Removing a person's right to determine their own life is a crime. To do so based on your own ideas of a God or Life is arrogant beyond belief. It is not your business, but mine.

It is my life and I have the inalienable right to do with it as I please with the caveat that I do not encroach on the rights of others to live theirs without being harmed by me or others.

12 comments:

Knitting-twitter said...

.. and I agree 100% with your words and opinion.. wishing you a nice Sunday Christa from Switzerland...

NAL said...

I don't think I have ever seen this better stated - thank you!

NAL

Macy from Buffalo, NY said...

I only add at the end of your opinion - Amen, let it be so. Thanks as usual, Colin, for putting into words exactly what I need to explain my final wishes to my loved ones in a way that they MIGHT be able to understand! Your ability with words is truly one of your blessings. Peace to you.

Indigo said...

Indigo Incarnates

I think the big fear (and, sadly, it's probably not an unfounded fear given the greed of the insurance companies) is that legalized euthanasia could too easily mutate into mandatory euthanasia.

Iris said...

I, too, agree and this is my worst fear. I don't mind the thought of being dead, it's the getting there that I fear. Why is it that, the minute someone suggests humane euthenasia or universal healthcare or gay marriage, so many people start declaring all manner of extremes that wouldn't happen and, even, the end of the world!

BammerKT said...

Agree also! I wonder too if legalizing it would only serve to help keep it from getting out of control. If it was legalized, couldn't the government then monitor it very tightly? (and then of course find some way to tax is as they are so wont to do here at least)

In fact my husband and I have talked about it at length, so I've turned the arguments over and over in my head. I just can't see watching a loved one, or suffering one's self the way he and I have had to watch loved ones waste away and suffer. It's very hard for me to understand.

joannamauselina said...

A natural death can be a beautiful thing, but seldom, these days, do we allow people to die a natural death. We want to torture them so they can live a day or a week longer. It is horrible. This is not really what you were talking about (which I totally agree with), but an extension of it - sort of, and one of my hobby horses.

#8 said...

When my dear sister(and very single) was diagnosed with with MS, she was crying and I was crying and I told her not to worry about herself financially, that I would always take care of her. She blurts out through her tears..."I am not worried about not having money, I am worried that I won't be able to kill myself when the times comes." She knows all too well what you speak of here in the US too. And it doesn't look like that is going to change anytime soon. I will travel to the ends of the earth with her, to let her die in peace and comfort if I can.

#8

Gramma Phyllis said...

It is amazing that we will "put down" a beloved pet yet when the same thing is even hinted at for a beloved human animal all hell breaks out. I have always wanted to know how we are any different.

My mother is 96 and in frail health. Needless to say we have a do not resuscitate order in place because once they start any procedure they must, by law, continue even if their actions are actually bringing about more physical harm and a more painful death. Where is the "do no harm" in that?

Yarnhog said...

I often wonder why we commonly euthanize our beloved pets and see it as a kindness when the animal is old or in unmanageable pain, yet we force humans to suffer pain and indignity when there is no possible cure.

Grannie said...

The part of the medical profession's oath that says "above all, do no harm" is a joke. However, I can attest to the fact that it is common knowledge that the palliative care facilities in many of our hospitals routinely give morphine doses designed to cause the dignified slipping away of the worst of the cases. This is never spoken about nor questioned and I thank God for these compassionate people who do live up to their oath.

As has been noted here before, we give our beloved animals the dignity of a swift and merciful death when there is nothing else left to do. Surely the same blessing given to our suffering human loved ones should not be cause for imprisonment.

I know many will cite the abuses that could result, etc. etc. Anyone wishing to dwell on these hypothetical cases should stay by the bedside of a suffering loved one, week after week, month after month, with the helplessness of not being able to alleviate their pain nor end it. As the old saying goes "walk a mile in my shoes".

Thank you Colin for your eloquent words.

FuguesStateKnits said...

Colin, you are right of course! Thank goodness there are people like you in this crazy world of ours. Often I think of you as the child in the story who said, "The Emperor has no clothes!"
Keep on telling the truth, brother!