I know what you are thinking, it is along the lines of, ‘do you really want to write a blog about this?’ And it is a fair question. Yet for someone as apathetic about so much as me, this is one of those things that I feel massively passionate about.

I feel the right to die is an individuals, and theirs alone. I am not going to go into the issues around straight out suicide, as to be honest I am conflicted about the rights and wrongs of that. This blog is specifically about assisted suicide for those with debilitating illnesses.

It seems like a trite argument, but I cannot help use the analogy of sick pets. When an animal is old, or is suffering greatly, the ‘humane’ action is to put the animal down. As a Brahmin, all life is considered equal in my eyes, and so if I agree with that action for a sick animal (which I do) , why would I think any different to a human being?

I feel it is very easy for people who are religious or who see it as some moral transgression to say that it is an outrage. It is very easy to be outraged. It is harder to be sympathetic, and as a result, most people probably see being sympathetic as better than outraged. If you have never been touched by someone who is slowly and painfully dying,  you have no right whatsoever to say what they can or cannot do. To watch them slowly deteriorate, changing from the person you love to something else. Something riddled with pain, and little of what made them who they are, why would you not ease their passing? It seems cruel not to do that. Yet the people who survive the infirm are selfish, they are not prepared for their lives without this person they love. And that is fair. Death is rarely scary for the person who is dying. Most of the impact is on those who are left behind. But is that reason enough to keep someone alive, in pain, or as a husk? I don’t think so.

Assisted suicide, in my opinion, shows a love for one another that goes far further than merely soap opera tropes.

I know some people think that the system would be abused. By people making unsavoury gains out of the end of someone else’s life, but that is why you need it to be regulated. That is why you need the activity to have utter transparency. You should not have people in this country running to Switzerland for something which we could do here.

Sir Terry Pratchett is a big supporter of the cause too, and he puts the argument far better than I ever could. As someone who is going through a degenerative brain disorder, I feel he is better placed than anyone to discuss the topic with candour, and fight its case. Because unfortunately it is a fight. It is a fight against people who use archaic modes of thinking to deal with a human issue.

Life is sacred, and beautiful and all that sits in between. But it can be cruel, and ugly, and painful. We have to address this problem as objectively as possible, and then, and only then, can we move into being a society that cares for one another in more than the obvious way.

I wrote about this today because if I was to go to another charity, I think I would join a campaign to make this legal in this country. As I said right at the beginning, I feel the right to die is an individuals, and who are we to judge? This is my opinion. I am sure those who believe in caring for the sick, and who think it is wrong have very strong arguments for why they feel that way. But at the end of the day it is that, not an argument, but a feeling. Something that we are all entitled to.

-          Anand

PS: there is a soon to be aired programme about this topic on BBC. Apparently it shows the final moments of a dying man, and I recommend you watch it and make up your own mind.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/15/terry-pratchett-documentary-assisted-suicide