The issue of 'assisted dying' previously known as euthanasia, is one which is capable of provoking a lot of emotions.
This is probably not all that surprising, as humans do tend to have a strong yearning to live for a very long time, with some of us even aspiring to live forever, if we could, or if the eternal life which the gods are reputed promised the faithful, is really true.
The religious, at least, the Christian, take on the issue of 'assisted dying', is that all human life is worthy of being preserved, and that it would be wrong for other humans to intervene and help someone who has concluded that their best interest lies in them dying at a time and place of their choosing, is and would be wrong.
If I cannot feel excitement and have fun, then, though there might be life in me, I am not living, because I cannot claim and put to work the life in me to do the things I would have done to enjoy living.
By the same token, there is a presumption that people, probably all people who commit what we have come to categorise as suicide, must have been experiencing some form of acute mental disorder or trauma. That they were not 'in their right mind', at the time when they killed themselves.
The default position regarding us humans killing ourselves, is that no right minded person would do something as extreme as that. Of course, it might not be as extreme as society has, officially, come to view it, since we are all destined to die at some point.
Now, it is my opinion that, while living is worthy of being preserved, promoted, and lived to the fullest extent, life per se does not, or should not have that command over our moral, legal and emotional, and economic resources. Bluntly speaking, only viable life should have such command over scarce resources. Yes, I do acknowledge that that raises the question of how would we determine the issue of 'viable life', would it be in months, years, or what?
It is the case that, in order to enjoy living to the best of our capabilities, we need to be blessed with the appropriate or requisite control over our respective faculties. Unfortunately, there are some people who are not so blessed, due to serious disabilities they have been born with or have suffered through some trauma in their living.
Arguable, when a person is suffering from a terminal illness which has greatly incapacitated them or is likely to do so in a relatively short period of time, and chooses to quicken their demise and shorten their period of acute and chronic pain, they should be allowed to do so. By what authority should others, and society, deny them that right; the right to avoid further needless suffering? Not only for themselves, but for their families and friends who suffer as a result of their suffering?
When 'life' is deprived of the ability to be actively and enjoyably lived, and one is at the point of, consciously or unconsciously simply awaiting being claimed by death, what is the point in continuing with it? It seems to me that, when that traumatic situation arises, arguably, the more compassionate option for that person and their family, and, yes, for society, is to enable, empower that person to speedily achieve the destiny which awaits all of us.
It tends to be typical of us humans, that we make wars and kill and maim other healthy humans who have everything to live for, on a massive scale. Then we behave somewhat irrationally and hypocritically, by proffering weak moral, religious, legal and other arguments against enabling people who have resolved to take their lives, from doing so.
Endeavour to get as much enjoyment and pleasure from your living as you can, and hope that you will not find yourself in a terminal situation where you are unable to give effect to any wish you might then have to end your life, or would probably have had had, if you were conscious. After all, if we are not conscious or are suffering from a disability which grossly incapacitate us, then, though we might be breathing and technically alive, we cannot be said to be living per se; can we?
If I am unaware of the presence of my family, smell the perfume of the woman I love, of feel the touch of my children, or feel the cool breeze on my skin, or acknowledge the concerns of those around me with a cheeky grin, then, though I might still be breathing, I cannot be said to be living.
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