Suicide is painless, unless it's assisted

One night, I watched a made-for-TV movie about a physically disabled woman of sound mind who wanted to be euthanized. In one scene in which she left a courthouse, she and her family were mobbed by pro-life protesters. I had never been infuriated by pro-lifers more than in that moment. Where did they get off telling a completely lucid adult how long she had to stay alive?

A number of Canadian politicians have raised the same ire. A bill to legalize assisted suicide, Bill C-384, put forward by Bloc Québecois MP Francine Lalonde, is heading for a second reading in the House of Commons. Somehow the aforementioned politicians have found a way to make the issue all about society.

The consensus among many who champion disabled people’s rights is that no one — including the government — should have the power to decide when someone’s life should end. . . . “It’s very difficult for us as a society to start to determine when life is or is not worth living,” said [Conservative MP Dean] Del Mastro.

Have they completely missed the point? The objective is to allow individuals to decide when their own lives are worth living or not. When they are physically incapable of doing it themselves, they have only three options for assistance: a) family members, who probably wouldn’t do it; b) some shady mercenary-for-hire who just wants someone to kill; and c) doctors. Tell me which one is preferable.

And as for the bill itself, it would only apply to a patient who “would have to be at least 18, lucid, and make two written requests within 10 days of each other.” In other words, a consenting adult. As long as these are the only criteria allowed to be met, what’s the problem? If the government has no right to tell people when they should die, what gives them the right to tell them when they shouldn’t?

One disabled-rights advocate put it this way: “If euthanasia were legal, [quadriplegic Conservative MP Steven Fletcher] wouldn’t be here today, most likely.” And then you wouldn’t have a political pawn! Disabled people certainly might and do later make significant contributions to their community. But this is just like legally forbidding women to cut their nails because they might need to open an important envelope later. There is no legal argument on barring them from making that decision.

For the sake of individual rights trumping other people’s grief, I strongly encourage all MPs to vote for this bill. Other people’s grief is something only the disabled person alone should factor into the decision.