Euthanasia

Every human has the right to take his or her own life and the means to do so painlessly and swiftly should be made easily and openly available.

Modern medicine, powerful as it may be, has a long way to go before we can be repaired.  The all too common end for many of us is months or years of suffering with incurable disease.  The horror of pain is often accompanied by immobility, loss of cognitive facilities, incontinence and great indignity.  No coup de grace is allowed until the very last moment when the patient is unable to take water or food.

The whole question is surrounded by taboo, ignorance, superstition, religious claptrap and humbug.  Pure unenlightened barbarism.  A disgrace and an insult to the intelligence.

The fear that assisted suicide may be abused and used for murder is remote and absurd. Murder will take place anyway. Many a fully qualified doctor has been known to commit murder (and not as a mercy killing). Guns are freely available even in countries where such weapons are illegal and in any event the avenues and opportunities for the dedicated murder abound.  This is no excuse.

And as for the religious nutcases- grow up, we live in the 21st century and if your non existent deity hadn’t made such mess of creation we would not be in this fix anyway.

So yes, I am cross and anxious and fearful. I have seen a mother take ten years to die from dementia, while her cognisance and then her body slowly stopped working, until at the very last she became a croaking husk unable to take food or water. What kind of end is that?

I have seen relatives and friends suffer the indignity of connection to machinery to pass bodily wastes while months pass by in a semi vegetative state.

I do not want to end my life with a whimper. I do not wish to be an embarrassing burden on anyone around me especially to those to whom I have been a husband or father.

I have a right not to endure such disgusting indignity and will exercise that right when the time comes. I shall end my life when, how and as I choose.  So should you.

The law is an ass.