I read an article in the London Paper regarding Euthanasia today. It got me really annoyed. Apparently, if you help somebody commit Euthanasia, you can face up to 15 years in prison. What kind of backward way of thinking is this? It makes about as much sense as locking up drug addicts. It doesn't help people.
In my opinion, if someone wants to die they should be allowed to. If its a case of manic depression then yes theres no reason why psychiatric help couldn't be recommended. If its purely because life isn't going you're way at that particular time but theres a possibility of it all turning around then perhaps, suicide isn't your last option but, one thing that cant be cured with the likes of psychiatry is say … a terminal disease, or perhaps arguably worse, a life hindering disease that may render you immobile and vastly unhappy with your living condition. If someone decides that this was not their intended and preferred way of living I think its all within their own power to do something about it.
I think the thing that gets me angriest is the pure audacity of the government, just handing out laws to suit their own “moral” motives. Who is to truly say whats moral and whats not? The church? Aren't they supposed to stay out of politics? This is even more unjust than the abortion debate because theres surely no argument here. You are dealing with one body. Yours. And as for “assisted suicide” as they so carefully put it, its a consensual thing between 2 people who obviously care a great deal about each other to have the strength to go through with such a thing. We are all for nurses turning off life support machines in hospitals, but when it comes to choosing whats best for yourself there seems to be some huge taboo. We are all for getting our bodies pumped full of morphine and painkillers but when it comes to self medicated “illegal” drugs we don't seem tog et a choice.
If we don't have power over our country as individuals I would have thought we would still be allowed power over our own bodies.
If I want to stick a heroin needle into my eyeball, then I should be damn well allowed to. Its all very “sweet” that the government “cares” about us enough to FORCE us into submitting to their laws like Jack Nicholson being strapped into his bed and given harsh electroshock therapy in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, but I would prefer not to turn out like he does at the end, vastly in need of euthanasia.
