Opinion

[stonebender]

My thoughts on assisted suicide prompted by this article:

Assisted Suicide is More Dangerous...

I've been struggling with this issue for a long time now. I'm a person with a disability and I really do believe that terminally ill people should be able to decide when they want to end their lives. However, with all the talk about reducing medical costs and how much more expensive treatment is towards the end of life, there are huge financial incentives to "allow us to die with dignity". It wasn't that long ago that babies with Down's Syndrome were pushed to the back of hospital nurseries and "allowed" to die from neglect. "For their own good."

For a couple of years in college I worked as a crisis intervention counselor and I know from personal experience that many people who feel driven to suicide just need some time and perspective. This is not to diminish their pain and suffering, but I've talked to people who say they wish to kill themselves. I know, that if I could keep them on the phone long enough, they changed their minds. Sometimes suicide is not a desire to end their lives, but a desire to end their suffering with the only option they believe they have.

Too many people already think my life is a burden to me even though I love my life and the people in it. Too many people have said to me, "if I were you I would just check out." Personally I would be much more comfortable with the whole issue if I was sure that people with disabilities got the services and treatment they needed to live as full a life as possible. If that happened, then I would be more interested in talking about my "right to die."

Comments

[heliopausa]

Thanks for that link; you are exactly right about the dangers of the apparently liberal position which would make it much easier to arrange for the death of the inconvenient.
Also, the whole "death with dignity" thing to me raises the question: who defines "dignity"?

[stonebender]

Exactly!

[the_siobhan]

I also find it telling that assisted suicide is becoming a more popular issue at the same time that chronic pain sufferers are reporting that is becoming harder and harder to get proper pain management.

[stonebender]

What a coincidence, right?

[ljgeoff]

Thank you for writing this. It should get more eyes on it.

[stonebender]

Thank you.

[voidampersand]

I can't say I'm totally against assisted suicide. When people know they are going to die soon, regardless, and if they really are in pain, maybe they should have choices. But there is no way that kind of choice should ever be made for cost reasons or while a patient is depressed. That is just abhorrent. It should never be pushed on a patient. And you're right, it isn't possible to separate it from crap like discrimination against people with disabilities.

Which gives me an idea. It's a really bad idea, but I think I will share it with you anyway. How about if the assisted suicide laws are tweaked so that patients are provided with, instead of pills, a firearm and a good supply of ammunition? That way they could kill themselves, but they also could defend themselves against busybodies suggesting that maybe they should kill themselves. Not that that would end well. But the great American tradition is to go down in a blaze of glory. "Death with dignity" is measured by body count, not by how quietly one passes away.