Where Slippery Slopes Take You

Where Slippery Slopes Take You

There was a time when attempted suicide was a criminal offense--I recall reading about German in the Renaissance period who was sentenced to death for it. (No, really. That's not a joke.)

Because there are really unpleasant terminal illnesses, where a few more weeks of life can mean excruciating misery, we as a society have generally decided that it is acceptable for a person to kill himself or herself.

While it isn't generally legal in America, we also recognize that there are times when a doctor may leave a large dose of pain pills on a nightstand in a hospice or even a hospital, and warn the patient, "You can take two pills every six hours for pain. But if you take more than 12 pills at once, it will kill you." The doctor has put the means at the hands of the patient--and the patient is free to make a tremendously difficult decision. I cringe, but I understand.

We have not generally accepted the idea of physician-assisted suicide. There's something about crossing that boundary that bothers people, even ones that can accept the other situations aforementioned. It's the difference between providing a method, and actively playing a part. One is entirely the suicide's action; the other involves another person.

This article from the April 3, 2009 Times of London is why the slippery slope of physician-assisted suicide has always bothered me so much:

The founder of the Swiss assistedsuicide clinic Dignitas was criticised yesterday after revealing plans to help a healthy woman to die alongside her terminally ill husband.

Ludwig Minelli described suicide as a “marvellous opportunity” that should not be restricted to the terminally ill or people with severe disabilities. Critics said that the plans highlighted the risks of proposals to legalise assisted suicides in Britain for people in the final stages of a terminal illness.

The Dignitas clinic in Zurich claims to have assisted in the deaths of more than 100 Britons. The Zurich University Clinic found that more than a fifth of people who had died at Dignitas did not have a terminal condition.

Mr Minelli said that anyone who has “mental capacity” should be allowed to have an assisted suicide, claiming that it would save money for the NHS.

Oh great--saving money! There's a good reason!

Look, I can somewhat understand why she might be reluctant to continue on without her husband. But I still cringe at the prospect--especially when I see what this creep is doing:

Mr Minelli admitted that some of the people who had been helped to die at the clinic had been psychiatric patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Swiss psychiatrists are refusing to co-operate with Dignitas so the clinic allows patients to provide their own medical papers from Britain.

“We have some problems because all the Swiss organisations of psychiatrists have told the public that they will not make such reports,” he said. “If we would have a psychiatrist from the UK giving an extended report, then no problems.”

To think that a person who is mentally ill--who generally can't be held responsible for their actions in court--can be "assisted" to commit suicide makes my skin crawl. What next? Encouraging children to take poison so that they can go to a wonderful place where they never have to go to bed or obey their parents?

The comments over there are quite interesting. One from someone in the Netherlands makes the "overcrowded world" argument:

In an overcrowded world, why should those who do not wish to live be forced to do so by others?

Yeah, that Lebensraum argument worked so well a few decades ago, didn't it? I was pleased to see an American observe:

To think that we, in the US, are thought of as not being as culturally advanced as the Europeans. I'm saying, good. From what I've seen come out of Europe in the past 50 years, that's a good thing.

Yup. Much of the "not being as culturally advanced" stuff comes from elitists in America who are upset that we aren't focused on the death spiral of European intellectuals.