“There were times when I would have ended my life if it were legal – coming out the other side I’m glad it wasn’t”.
This is Christopher Jones’ reflection on his experience with terminal cancer and the assisted suicide debate, less than six months before his death in 2011.
A few points are worthy of emphasis as we consider whether or not to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia, sometimes euphemistically referred to as “assisted dying” or “end-of-life choice”:
1. A person’s feelings about their condition and desire to die may be transient
He writes,
“There is great danger in attaching decisive significance to a person’s judgment at a particular stage in the process that their life is no longer worth living and ought to be ended, as both the situation and their feelings about it may change drastically in a relatively short period of time.”
2. An assisted suicide law affects the whole of society – not only the individuals who want to make use of it.
“As well as prescribing sanctions when offences are committed, laws have directive and preventative effects. By setting boundaries, they help to maintain an environment of healthy ethics, good practice and positive expectations. A nakedly individualist account of decisions about the ending of life neglects or under-estimates this context. In the light of my experience, it is of prime importance that the law should signal the priority of the preservation of life – not at all costs but as the default option which requires adequate reasons to be overridden.”
3. The option of legal assisted suicide is not necessarily in the best interest of the patient
In our individualistic Western society we often believe that the more options and choices we have, the better. However, some options encourage us to take the road that may be easier in the short term, but prevent us from experiencing personal growth and joy in the long term.
He writes,
“My reflection on this experience centres on the fact that at three periods – the diagnosis of secondary cancer, the traumatic experience of chemotherapy, and the prognosis of incurability – I was subject to extreme stress and a sense of hopelessness, and I might have been open to the option of ending my life by legal means, had these existed. The legal prohibition of this course was immensely helpful in removing it as a live option, thus constraining me to respond to my situation more creatively and hopefully. In hindsight, I now know that had I taken this course, I would have been denied the unexpected and joyful experience of being ‘recalled to life’ as I now am.”
In light of these points it seems that the truly compassionate response to the terminally ill, as well as to society as a whole, is upholding the current law against assisted suicide.
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