In the U.K., assisted suicide advocates are pushing their case again. Two publicized cases have brought this issue to the fore. The article linked and discussed here is mostly concerned with press coverage of the death of Daniel James, a young rugby player who had tetraplegia after an accident. James’ parents took him to Switzerland, where he committed suicide with the help of the group Dignitas. For further information and discussion on Daniel James, I recommend the pieces written by William Peace at Bad Cripple. His article on Daniel James can be found here and here.
The press coverage of Daniel James has alarmed one woman, at least.
From the Liverpool Daily Post:
A PARALYSED Merseyside teacher has spoken of her anger that the growing public sympathy for assisted suicide means she is now seen as ‘selfish’ for wanting to carry on living.
Sue Garner-Jones last night criticised the way seriously disabled people who choose to end their lives are commonly described as ‘courageous’ and ‘selfless’.
Dr Garner-Jones has urged her MP, Southport’s John Pugh – himself a vocal opponent of euthanasia – to lead a campaign in support of people with spinal cord injuries who want to battle on with their lives.
What is she complaining about, you might ask? She has an answer for you:
Yesterday, Dr Garner-Jones told the Daily Post: “People make their own decisions about how to live their life. But there’s a lot of talk about bravery and courage for people who were opting out of living their lives. I didn’t like the inverse of that.
“To call this action ‘brave’, ‘courageous’ and ‘selfless’ implies that those of us who battle on are ‘cowardly’ and ‘selfish’, which is unfair and untrue.”
Dr Garner-Jones, 53, was paralysed from the chest down and has limited use of only her left hand after a lorry ploughed into her car 34-years-ago.
As mentioned at the top of this post, Dr. Garner-Jones asked her MP to take up her cause in Parliament. He did.
Echoing Dr Garner-Jones, Dr Pugh warned: “The proposals involve an individual regarding their life as intolerable, worthless, unbearable or lacking in human dignity – and the state endorsing that choice.” (emphasis added)
Thank you, Dr. Garner-Jones. –Stephen Drake
Thank you. An alarming number of stories about “selfless suicides” have been cropping up in the media recently. I have even been asked several times in the past three months how I can continue living like this, and the questions have been worded almost exactly the same, indicating thye come from the same source. I don’t like the “cheerful cripple” scenario, which is just about everything else we’ve got, so we had better get word out to the media that we have rich, full lives with jobs, families, and the usual frustrations. Anybody for Leno?
Well said on both her part and yours.
But things are bad, aren’t we, when we have to explain that we are not morally deficient for having the same will to live and thrive that others have and express without question…