A man with "Locked-In Syndrome" fights for right to die.
Since the headline first thing this morning we now know that Tony Nicklinson can take his "right to die" a step further by having it fully discussed both in Parliament and with medical representation.
I, for one, hope he succeeds. I know that there are lots of moral reasons on either side of the argument but it always strikes me as strange that it is considered humane to put down an animal that is in pain, has little chance of survival or will have no quality of life but when it comes to a human me must keep them alive at whatever cost.
I know that if my mum was on a life support system or in such a mental or physical state that she has no quality of life, she wants to be helped off. She has told me so. I know it would be very hard to make the decision but I know that is what she wants and I love her enough to give her her final wish. But I hope fervently that I never have to.
It's going to be interesting to see what the final outcome is but I suspect that in the end the law won't change. Although to not change the law is discriminatory to the disabled. The able bodied are able to take their own lives, even as assisted suicide the "patient" has to administer the drugs themselves, but the severely disabled can't.This is why Tony is fighting, because he can't administer those drugs, so why, if he asks someone to do it, with all the safeguards that can be put in place, is he not given the same right as the able bodied?
7 comments:
I heard this news today and have been feeling sad for the man. I know that he can't move but I wonder if he has the power of speech. If I were in his position, I would not want to carry on either, what is the point? Poor chap, I hope he gets the decision he wants.
Your analogy with animals is very apt.
I can't help but draw a comparison with Stephen Hawking. Here are two men, both in the same physical predicament - albeit through different illnesses - and one continues to give the world insight into science and physics, whilst the other want to shuffle off it.
I'm not being judgemental here, I just find it a strange juxtaposition.
In Tony's place, I'd probably wish for the same.
He cannot communicate verbally but has a keyboard which works with eye movements.
And you raise the exact point. He wants the choice. He perhaps can't contribute in the way Hawkings has, and Tony is older when becoming this disabled than Steven was. Also, ha hasn't said he wants to end it now but is spring it or now so when the time is right nothing stands in his way. Whoever administers the drugs under present law will be charged with murder.
Sorting not spring
If he can communicate via a keyboard (which is obviously computerised), then I would have thought it quite possible to rig something up so that the drugs could be administered electronically - a servo motor pushing the plunger of a hyperdermic which then injects the drug into his IV feed. Yes, a doctor would still have to fit the IV, but the choice of whether to take his own life would be Tony's and taking it would be by his own action, thereby absolving the doctor of any crime: yes, he fitted the IV, but it was Tony's choice whether to use it or not.
That's true. The keyboard works by eye movement but I don't see why that should preclude anything. One to follow, I think.
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