I am a firm supporter of the Right to Die movement. I think personal autonomy is fundamentally important, especially in today's world.
I just watched HBO's VICE episode called "Right to Die" wherein they examined the different laws being discussed concerning a person's right to die with dignity, and they went and filmed a person in Holland who exercised this right, and gave permission to be filmed whilst receiving the drugs and dying. It was remarkably powerful to watch a real person die, even on camera.
The thing is, this person was not terminally ill. She suffered from an anxiety disorder and PTSD. In Holland, the laws are such that this woman saw a therapist 3 times, and the therapist agreed to help this woman end her life.
Here's where I'm conflicted: I 100% agree that a person who is terminally ill should have the choice whether to ride it out and live as long as they can, or set their own end point. Same with Alzheimer's/Dementia, Huntington's, ALS, etc.
Should the "right to die" be extended to mental illness? Should a person suffering from severe depression be considered sound of mind enough to get medical help in ending their life?
I personally remain on the fence. I worry about people who could have come out of it seeing the right therapist or people with life circumstances that they cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I also believe that it's none of my business. I can't jive the two.
What say you lot?
I just watched HBO's VICE episode called "Right to Die" wherein they examined the different laws being discussed concerning a person's right to die with dignity, and they went and filmed a person in Holland who exercised this right, and gave permission to be filmed whilst receiving the drugs and dying. It was remarkably powerful to watch a real person die, even on camera.
The thing is, this person was not terminally ill. She suffered from an anxiety disorder and PTSD. In Holland, the laws are such that this woman saw a therapist 3 times, and the therapist agreed to help this woman end her life.
Here's where I'm conflicted: I 100% agree that a person who is terminally ill should have the choice whether to ride it out and live as long as they can, or set their own end point. Same with Alzheimer's/Dementia, Huntington's, ALS, etc.
Should the "right to die" be extended to mental illness? Should a person suffering from severe depression be considered sound of mind enough to get medical help in ending their life?
I personally remain on the fence. I worry about people who could have come out of it seeing the right therapist or people with life circumstances that they cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I also believe that it's none of my business. I can't jive the two.
What say you lot?
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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