I read an extremely interesting article the other day and I just have way too many comments to keep my mouth shut. Today’s topic…assisted suicide.
“The founder of the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas was criticized yesterday after revealing plans to help a healthy woman to die alongside her terminally ill husband.”
OK ok ok ok…let’s take the time to re-read the introduction one more time. I’ll give you 5 seconds to read it again…hell, I’ll even re-post it…
“THE FOUNDER OF THE SWISS ASSISTED SUICIDE CLINIC DIGNITAS WAS CRITICIZED YESTERDAY AFTER REVEALING PLANS TO HELP A HEALTHY WOMAN TO DIE ALONGSIDE HER TERMINALLY ILL HUSBAND.”
Alright…so now that we know your glasses prescription isn’t out of wack, let’s contemplate this. I have 3 words to say…OHH EMM GEE!!!
So now we allow people to actively seek out someone to “assist” in their suicide when their partner is terminally ill…ookkk…now, call me facetious (please do!!!) but as much as I love my boyfriend to pieces, and even if we spend the rest of our lives together (we’re working on that…going good so far) um…widowhood is the new trend…ESPECIALLY with the baby boomers starting to die, slowly but surely. You KNOW they’re gonna turn widowhood into the biggest thing since…well…let’s see, what have the baby boomers made trendy…eeuuuhhh…LSD? Heroine? Cocaine? Richard Simmons? Yoga? E-HARMONY?!?! I mean, yes, I understand if you’re both in your 70’s and have been together 50 years and let’s say partner a has 6 months to live and partner b has like 1 year to live…go out with a BANG! But…c’mon…COME ON!!! Don’t feed me this garbage of “I want to die beside my partner” yadda yadda blah blah boo hoo… “For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”-William Shakespeare
Now, in this article I read, there was lots of talk about when assisted suicide is appropriate. Yes, I do agree that there are appropriate circumstances. Really, I do.
“Mr Minelli said that anyone who has “mental capacity” should be allowed to have an assisted suicide, claiming that it would save money…”
Yes, I like the sound of that…save money…I live to save money. I also too wouldn’t mind the .0001% of my tax dollars to go towards someone who NEEDS it, not some poor “mentally capable” person who is lamenting their life away and wasting that $0.0001 that COULD be going towards my child’s education!!! I know I sound like sarcastic bitch at the moment, but there was something else that made me ponder life’s injustice…
“For 50 attempts you have one suicide and the odds of failing with heavy costs,”
So…um…2% of suicides actually succeed? That’s…well, that boggles my mind, considering out of the 20-odd people I know who were depressed enough to kill themselves, only 3 didn’t die. I guess my kind of people laugh at the others who need the assistance, because obviously they’re not costing us tax payers any extra money. I do however have a beef with hospitals that spend ressources and money on suicide attempts. Without going into detail (because I’m sure some of you know who I’m about to talk about) we waste an awful lot of…manpower and take up beds and ressources and well…just a lot of effort for someone who doesn’t want it. I once knew someone who jumped on the S train and unfortunately (or fortunately?) held onto life for a week…a very long and complicated week. Now, I’m apologizing in advance if I may sound heartless, but this made me contemplate…very hard. And, off the record, to this day I’m still conflicted and hurt very deeply over my loss of someone who I cared about very deeply. Now, back to my complicated issue. For one week, this person held onto life. If only he could come out of his coma to receive a kidney…a kidney would save him!!! But alas, life was ripped from him and the kidney went to someone else. Now, that’s the ONLY part of this whole story I don’t like. A kidney was on hold for this person who I considered a close friend. A kidney was ON ICE, probably 20 feet away from my friend should he need it. My father, who had renal failure for over 5 years had to wait for a kidney transplant…5 years…and I’m sure if tomorrow I suffered renal failure, I would be put on a waiting list that’s as long as Santa’s naughty list, unless if I went black market and even then I couldn’t guarantee that I’d be getting a human kidney. Imagine if my friend who have survived and received a kidney. He would be alive today, but horribly damaged. Physically and emotionally. Which means maybe hospitalization and regular follow ups with a GP, an endocrinologist, a dietitian, a psychologist, a social worker, lots and lots of medicine and hours of therapy…to maybe cure a severely depressed person. MAYBE…again, statistics show that 2% of attempts actually turn into successes. It’s like repeat offenders…how many times does someone have to get arrested before we learn and they learn that their behavior is BAD BAD BAD…
Bottom line is that we’re supposed to be free to make our own destinies…some people don’t feel up to living a full life and dying by natural causes, others fight until the end. Some people feel that they can’t pass life’s hurtles, others feel like they can take on the world. Maybe cause my days are numbered or maybe it’s cause I’m as stubborn as a mule…but I don’t want to take my life and I’m going to fight tooth and nails to whoever or whatever tries to take that away from me. I know I’ll be devastated when I lose my partner, my family, my close friends…but I know that life goes on and the void they leave behind can never be totally filled…It can however be looked at with fond memories and those memories are that person’s legacy…and for someone who wants to affect everyone’s life and be remembered indefinitely, that’s the most important thing in the world for me.
To view the full article, please go to http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6021947.ece
