Today I watched a T.V. Programme...yes, I know, I reverted to the idiot box for over an hour of entertainment to cure my curiosity of what appeases the needs of the ever-dwindling population of our continuosly ailing planet. Interestingly, I stumbled upon a documentary entitled "Right to Die" on Sky RealLives. This was perhaps the most shocking diary I have ever watched in my entire, yet short, life. The topic was about assisted suicide and people rights to seek it when they feel that they need/want it. To provide some background to the show...
There were three candidates; a middle-aged man, from the United States although living in the UK, and an elderly couple, living in Canada. The middle-aged man was suffereing from Motor Neuron Disease and was gradually becoming more and more paralysed. He was refusing to allow his disease to render him, as he called it, to exist living in a tomb. The elderly couple were somewhat different. The pair, both Greek originally, sought to leave their eartly existence together. The husband was an individual who had suffered over four heart attacks, each leaving him more and more disabled. His wife however, was in perfect health. All three candidates wished to have their demise legally assisted rather than taking matters into their own hands.
The documentary was fairly self explanitory, the candidates were all seeking medical approval from a groups called Dignitas who plan and carry out the proposed assisted suicides, usually in Switzerland. And the documentary would show the world first intentionally recorded death as the final act of the film The entire ordeal, I use this word because it was personally the most difficult and sad thing I have ever seen in my life and regret doing so, was most disturbing.
Whatever about the show itself and its minor affects on me, it is something that, while I would noe encourage anyone to watch it, made me spend the rest of the evening thinking about where I stand on the issue of assisted suicide. I find myself juggling the moral code for which I have personally manifested throughout my life. This has occured because now I ask myself "Is suicide ok? And if so, when and underwhat circumstances?"
I have had friends over the years who have, due to various circumstances, taken their own lives, more often than not, fairly gruesomely. I had one friend who was a closet sufferer of manic depression who hung herself. Another friend also hung herself for reasons which will never be known. A friend, with whom I once went to college with, stopped taking his heart medication because he wished to lead a "normal life" knowing that he would eventually and quickly succumb to his disease. His death was not technically a suicide but he was well aware of the fact that neglecting to take his medication would result in his death quite quickly, he died at his computer, while having an argument with someone online, of a heart attack. More recently, an acquaintance of mine purposly drove into a river to escape the demons in his own life. The thing is, I have never sympathised with their actions, although I understand what may make them feel that they have no alternative but to take their own live. This is something that is hard to explain, I am aware of that.
Now, while I will never condone actions such as these, I feel I have my reasons. I believe that suicide is simply an easy escape that is primarily selfish and unfair...and not for the person themselves. But for their families, to be alerted by a policeman or a phonecall from a friend of such a tragedy leaves the family members with no immediate sense of understanding nor does it afford them a chance to help. For want of a better phrase, I feel suicide, in its traditional sense, is cowardly.
However, when the notion of assisted suicide, such as was documented in "Right to Die", entered my mind. This is where my own moral journey begins. If we examine the documentary, each of the candidates had informed their families of their intention to sanction their own death. Each family member had both the opportunity to reason with the prospective candidates as well as possess the chance to "say goodbye". I also find it different because each candidate had thoroughly thought it through and had clearly though that this was the optimum course of action. This still doesn't mean that I feel they are right to do what they wished to do. But as an alternative to the cowardly and unfair methods previously used by suicide 'victims', it seems reasonable to me that a person who wishes to conduct such an act, may be entitled to do so. My question is now, under what circumstances is it acceptable to allow someone to be able to make this decision?
If we again refer to the documentary, each of the candidates was subject to meetings with a psychologist. The intention of this was to evaluate the reasons for these candidates wishing to die. In the case of the man with MND, the psychologist granted him permission to seek assistance in his suicide on the basis that the man felt that being trapped in his body with no ability to communicate or act freely was a fate worse than death. For the elderly couple however, while the psychologist sympathised with the reasons of the husband, did not belive that the wifes reasons were acceptable. And while I still reserve judgement on the reasons of the two gentlemen, I would stand behind the verdict regarding the elderly woman. The strangest thing is, I find, that to have flexibility and believe in a persons right to end their own life, brings to mind considerations for other potent subjects such as abortion, drug taking and even prostitution.
If a woman carrying a child that has been concieved due either to her own health, incest, rape or simply lack of knowledge due to her age or mental capacity wishes to terminate her pregnancy, personally I feel she has the right to do so. If, on the other hand, she is pregnanant due to simply being careless, I feel she does not have the right to end her unborn childs life and should take responsibility for her and her sexual partners actions, as of course should her sexual partner.
In terms of drug taking, I believe is a person is aware of the effects, both mental and physical, of drugs. They should not be told that they cannot do it. I also believe that in this case, it is not the job of the state to care for these people if they develop problems from their actions. However if they are taken into the world of drugs either at a young age and become troubled by them due to innocence or are mentally incapable of seeing the issues that can arise from drug taking, they should be taken under the wing of the state and cared for. Also, there to prevent these things from occuring, there should be in place measures to minimise the potential of these occurences.
Prostitution is much simpler. While I believe that is should not be criminalised, there should be heavy regulations by the state to ensure that it is both a safe and proper proceeding. There should be regular health checks of prostitutes, as well as a registrar listing the names and addresses of a states working people. There should also be increased efforts to eliminate the number men and women drawn into the world of prostitution through the sex slave trade, this would also enable the state to rid the world of child prostitution. As well as this, we must remember, that while prostitution is seen as a profession resorted to as an act of financial desperation by troubled people, there are those who enjoy it and do it for both the love of money and the love of sex. In otherwords, it can be a victimless endeavor.
However with suicide, this is not such an easy dichotomy. I still consider the affects that prostitution has on the families of those who choose to die. But with that in mind, I understand that there are familial concerns with the three aforementioned topics. It makes for a very difficult debate. Where can we draw the line between what is acceptable and what is wrong? Moreover, who are we to decide the actions of another human being, especially when that human beings actions are not necessarily physically or mentally affecting the health of another persons? Finally, if we conclude that all of these actions have, at the very least, some profound mental affects on their families and friends, to what point do we reason and say to ourselves "well...that's all well and good for the families, but what about the individuals seeking to do these thing?...where do we take into account their wishes?". Where, if possible, do we balance both sets of feelings and who do we side with?
This is something that I can simple not answer. I pass the torch to you and let you give your views. Maybe you can enlighten me with your opinions because I am at a serious crossroads in my own moral journey. This is by far, the most stressing debate I have ever had with myself and it is making me uncomfortable to even begin to take a side. It would be easy to simply not take a side, but I feel that there must be an answer somewhere...or is there?
