A humane way to go: Assisted Suicide

“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” 

Jimi Hendrix, from Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love

Don’t tell my wife this, but what’s the big deal about assisted suicide anyway? Like gay marriage and abortion, I don’t think it’s the right call in all situations or for everyone or even for me. But there are definitely times when it is the right call for some people and in some situations.

Think about it.

How is assisted suicide any different, in result and in reality, than posting a do not resuscitate (DNR) order or expressing one’s desires in a so-called living will? Believe me, there are some things that happen in life that would make an early exit seem like a blessing.

I’m not saying that someone should make such choices without at least talking with a medical professional or discussing with the family. But I know I would not want to be a burden to my family. Extreme dementia, living on a breathing tube, relegated to tubes for sustenance-no thanks.

Being in prison is one thing. But when your very existence is, in effect, a prison it’s something else again. That’s why, for me, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was more hero than felon. The authorities hounded him and eventually dug up a situation in which they could charge the man, and finally put him in prison. But was what he was doing really the wrong thing to do, ethically?

I don’t think so.

Take this example from a recent CNN story:

“An Indiana deer hunter and father-to-be who was left paralyzed after falling from a tree chose the latter (not to live), state authorities said Wednesday.

Timothy E. Bowers, 32, of Decatur was hunting Saturday afternoon when he fell about 16 feet to the ground from a tree stand, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said.

Bowers suffered a spine injury and paralysis, authorities said.

On Sunday, he chose ‘to remove himself from life support systems,’ the department said in a statement. He died that evening.”

While the example isn’t exactly the same as assisted suicide, the sentiment is. Bowers thought through his predicament and came to the conclusion that the kind of life he would have to lead, just to stay alive, would not be worth it. So, pull out the tubes, turn off the life support stuff, and let me move on. I say, God bless you.

Likewise, a New Mexico judge recently ruled that terminally ill, mentally competent patients have the right to get a doctor to end their lives.

Holy, Hippocratic Oath, Batman!

Where will this decision land us? No doubt the judge’s ruling will reach the US Supreme Court, where the Big Nine will listen to the pros and cons (no pun intended) arguments and come back with their ruling. Then, whatever they decree will become the law of the land. At least for a short while.

It’s difficult to understand why there would be such hue and cry about assisted suicide, for lack of a better term. The presumption is that the event would end suffering for an individual, and for some people it is exactly the right thing. The problem, really, is who should determine whether it is the right option.

In many ways it comes down to the same kind of argument we tend to hear about a lot of things: gay marriage and abortion come to mind. People are against the idea because they feel it is a slippery slope. If we allow gay marriage then everyone will want to try it. If we allow abortion then everyone will want to try it. And, God forbid, if we allow assisted suicide then everyone will want to try it, too.

In recent years I’ve had to deal with putting down two of my pets. It’s a hard decision to make. We loved Teddy and Sadie, but they were both in pain and they were both at a point where their quality of life had dropped to nothing. Still, it took us some time to make the final decision. That’s for a pet, for a family member it would be a vastly more difficult decision to make.

Why not leave it up to the person? If they are coherent, doesn’t it just make sense to have them decide? How many times have you heard that a family had to “make a decision” to, in effect, end the life of a loved one by pulling the plug? That’s the purpose of a living will anyway.

So, for me, allowing assisted suicide in these extreme cases is humane. I am not concerned that such actions would push me to the edge of the cliff on this any more than I am worried about entering into a gay marriage or having an abortion.