Just a brief alert on this one, for anyone interested. Last week, I participated in a taping of a discussion of euthanasia with Dr. Bert Keizer on the show “The State We’re In” on the English version of Radio Netherlands.
It was a polite discussion, and we covered a lot of territory. Among other things, it turns out that Dr. Keizer, who performs euthanasia on patients in the Netherlands, finds it hard to defend infanticide. He also doesn’t deny that a lot of doctors have some pretty bad attitudes about what living life with a disability will mean in terms of quality.
The show is online and you can listen to it here (mp3 format). –Stephen Drake
What was interesting to me was the doctor’s final comment: that he would prefer a place where euthanasia is illegal and palliative care is the best to a land where euthanasia is legal and palliative care sub-standard. That indicates to me that assisted suicide is a remedy for a failed medical system.
The second point, which he avoided, is that mental distress can make life intolerable. He brought the discussion back to physical illness or disability.
I still contend that assisted suicide is a discriminatory practice and will always be so until a depressed but otherwise healthy person can avail themselves of the lethal cocktail.
Who cares what THEY think about quality of life living with a disability? Who are they? It’s not their life. It’s not even something they’ve experienced. Not to mention that it’s similar to the habit of their saying how long someone has to live, which even they admit they’re notoriously bad at estimating, and people listening to them about it. It’s like signing a “living will,” believing that one can know in advance about something that hasn’t even happened yet, that one has never experienced, how it would be, etc.
Stephen, I thought you were great in this debate. These things are seldom easy and they end up being what they turn out to be. With this is mind, you did yourself proud.
It is clear the need in this issue is understanding. Not understanding of another’s point of view or even understanding of a disabled person but rather an understanding of what the issue is…
To the Dutch doctor the issue is autonomy. A suffering person should be allowed to die by an overdose if he wishes.
I much prefer your take. You say a person should be courageous to the end because it pays off. I totally agree with you. The way I understand it is that those who ask to be killed are courageous in asking but their courage ends right when they cannot ask to turn back their decision. They actually die in fear, regret and a state of panic. There is no courage to be seen anywhere.
The woman with MS whose voice was heard at the beginning of the show was full of bravado. She will not feel like this at the time of her actual death. This is your point and it is exactly right.
You are a good man!