Personal testimony from long term sufferer re why euthanasia is bad news.
Detailed letter he has written to the Premier of South Australia re their proposal to legalise euthanasia. In part,
It should also be noted that of the seven deaths that happened under the terms of the Rights of the Terminally Act in the Northern Territory that permitted euthanasia, four did not actually meet the criteria . The legislation was manifestly unsafe and I would argue that legislation that permits euthanasia could never be made safe for those of us who have serious chronic illnesses, because the essence of such legislation is to make respect for our lives contingent upon the strength of our will to survive. Such legislation depends on each of us, who have a serious illness and are suffering, not losing hope. If euthanasia is lawful then the question about whether our lives are overly burdensome will be in not only our minds, but the minds of those health professionals and those family members on whose support and encouragement we depend. The mere existence of the option will affect attitudes to our care, and hence our own willingness to continue.
That desire to live is often tenuous in the face of suffering and in the face of the burden our illnesses impose on others, our families and the wider community. You would gain nothing worthwhile for us by supporting the legalisation of deliberately ending the life of those who request death. Such requests warrant a response in solidarity from our community, a response that seeks to give us more support and better care, rather than termination of both life and care.
Article, A dying man explains why euthanasia is so dangerous.
Some will claim that those who are terminally ill should have the right to choose Euthanasia, if the so wish. The problem is, as the Dutch study has shown, legalising Euthanasia eventually effectively takes away another terminally ill person’s right to choose to go on living! Once Euthanasia becomes commonly accepted practice, what little Palliative Care support is currently available, is then likely to collapse. Hence, those who choose to go on living, do not have adequate care available to them, and so their right to choose to live has been undermined – when they are frail, and most in need of support!