The tide has turned on assisted suicide. At least, that’s what we’re being told. An eight hundred strong wave of ailing people has signed up to die an early death in the infamous Dignitas clinic, Switzerland. There is overwhelming public support for a change in the law, it is claimed, albeit by those who are pushing legalized voluntary euthanasia. They all want to die a good death. Peacefully. But tell me, who doesn’t?
To die the good death would be the wish of us all, but does dying well, with dignity and in peace, require a fatal needle, a fatal dose of barbiturates? Does it require a change in the law?
No. What it requires is true justice; more research into the management of terminal diseases; more provision of and access to palliative care, and more support for families faced with the often intolerable suffering of their loved ones.
It also needs true love, something we must never forget, and something which can be found in the deeply touching story of TV presenter Charlie Ottley, which was reported recently.
Fourteen years ago, Charlie’s mum was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an aggressive cancer of the plasma cells which normally causes death within two to four years. This diagnosis came just weeks after the death of his father from pancreatic cancer. So began Charlie’s mum’s own battle through the excruciating pain of rigorous radiology treatments, broken hips, more tumours, losing her mobility and, at times, losing the will to live. Through all of this, however, her loving family has been at her side, sharing, in their own way, her suffering.
And they are still there, fourteen years since it all began. Yes, Charlie’s mum is still alive ten years after the doctors said she would be dead! Anyone would think that of all those 800 signed up to die, Charlie’s mum’s name must surely be at the top of the list, but no. Courageously he states his categorical objection to euthanasia. Just look what can be achieved with loving life and a loving family!
This story really is the most touching tale of the true depths of human love and dedication in response to suffering. It is just a pity that so many people will close their ears to the message Charlie is trying to give – the message of the possibility of triumph over great suffering through love. It is this, hand in hand with acceptance and medical support that will ensure the dignified passing of his mother at the time at which she is ready.
Imagine if the law were different though – would his mother have had the courage to continue to live these past fourteen years? Probably not. On hearing the word ‘terminal’ she may well have acquiesced to the presumed wisdom of the law.
Many people, however, will casually say that it was her choice to battle on; others may choose differently.
Is it correct to reduce the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia merely to the right to choose? We at LIFE assert that it is not correct. It’s just not that simple. There are many pragmatic arguments against – problems of regulation, abuse, slippery slope, and the principled argument of the wrongness of the intentional killing of another person, but let’s keep it short. Consider suicide, the act of taking one’s life prematurely. Suicide is something that society rightly does not promote. Why? It is contrary to the common good. So, if suicide is not to be recommended, then neither is assistance with it. Yes, as autonomous human beings we have the freedom to end our own lives, but to make this a right would swiftly turn into the duty die, with this duty being felt most acutely by the most vulnerable in society. This is unacceptable; society is there to protect the common good.
What is the proper response to those sadly afflicted with unbearable suffering, be it through disease, disability or mental suffering? A truly compassionate society is one that supports people in this situation and supports their families too. This means more palliative care in the home and in hospices, more research, and saying more loudly an adamant ‘no’ to assisted suicide and euthanasia pushed by a militant few. This is the only way to ensure a just and peaceful death to the generations of people yet to die.