4 — Wednesday, August 18, 1993 ~ North Shore News

STRICTLY PERSONAL

IN MY own mind, there is
little doubt about what 7
would do if I were to be
told tomorrow that I had
terminal cancer or some in-
curable degenerative disease
that was going io cause me
to waste painfully away.

i would take a long swim, dive
deep, and not even try to come
up. ; ;
, Not right away, of course. I

would naturally cling to life and
enjoy the love and warmth of
family and friends, and sniff the
roses and watch the birds fly, for
as long as | could before losing
control of my functions.

The cut-off point, to me, would
be the stage beyond which F would
no longer be capable of taking
that long, final swim. Having
almost drowned a couple times in
my life, 1 know that a kind of
“ecstasy of the deep” sets in at
the end, which makes it a far
from unpleasant way to go.

What I am talking about here
is, aS you may realize, an illegal
act. ;

In the event that the police
should break down my door to
arrest me for even contemplating
such a crime as suicide, I’] amend
the statement just enough to pre-
tend that this is a mere speculation
on my part as to what I would do
under the circumstances.

But, as I say, in my own mind,
at the same moment, there is little
doubt. Whether, when and if the
time comes, I’JI have the strength
of will to carry.through with this
plan remains to be seen.

I hope so. Because, from what
I’ve seen of long, lingering deaths
in hospitals — with life prolonged
way past the point of sanity or
even compassion --~ it’s not worth
the suffering.

Unless you buy the idea thar it
is all somehow ‘‘God’s will.’* And
if you do, fine, that’s your right.
Too bad for you and the others
who have to watch you suffer.

What you're really talking
about is a kind of self-fulfilling
martyrdom prophecy, and if that
works for you, so be it.

Having said all this, I have to
admit that 1 have been having
some doubts lately about my
position that euthanasia should be
legalized.

In this rethinking of my own
feelings on the subject, | have
been generously assisted by
numerous readers who have writ-
ten lo me expressing their own
thoughts, while including a wide
variety of articles, both pro and
con,

Some readers agree with me that
Sue Rodriguez ought to have the
right to doctor-assisted suicide,
that the family of Karen Quinlan,
who is caught in an indefinitely
prolonged coma, should have the
tight to order the withdrawal of

‘medical treatment, and that Nancy

_B, of Quebec City, a victim of
Guillain-Barre syndrome, should .
be able to have her respirator
unplugged, as she desires.

Others see it quite differently.

Here, for instance, is what
Theresa Moylan of West Van-
couver has to say: ‘You are right.

lating

There is a contradiction in a legal
system which allows a woman to
kill the child in her womb, and at
the same time will not allow the
life of a suffering, terminally ill
person to be ended intentionally.

“The pro-life voice is saying, in
a society that has largely lost its
sense of morality, due to, among
other things, 25 years of killing
our children, do not kill the sick
and elderly, because even one such
accepted killing means we have
lost the means to protect anyone.
St is only a matter of time and
court challenges from then on...

“*You hold that it is drivel to
say that allowing euthanasia in the
case of Sue Rodriguez will pave
the way for mass-assisted suicide
by teenagers with angst.

“Tt was called drivel and other
such things years ago when the
argument was given that allowing
any abortion would lead to mass
abortion for convenience.

“At the time, it did seem too

doin the Pepsi
taste patrol
team _

ridiculous to credit. Yet it has
happened. By the time it happens
with euthanasia, we will have been
inculcated to think it OK anda
right, just as we have with abor-
tion.

“Our governing bodies have a
way of removing freedoms under
the guise of recognizing our
‘rights’. His quite insidious.

“Under the guise of recognizing
a child’s right to medical treat-
ment in spite of what his parents
say, the right to protect children is
removed from parents’ hands.

‘Under the guise of recognizing
the mentally disabled's right to
refuse medical treatment the right
of that patient to be protected by
his family members is about to be
removed...

“If Sue Rodriguez has the right
to end it ail, based on her assess-
ment of the situation, you can be
absolutely sure that the rest of us
have the same right. Otherwise,
you are discriminating on the basis

44 What you're really talking about
is a kind of self-fulfilling martyrdom

prophecy .

of age, or something else.

“After all, if mothers may kill
their babies, if children can re-
quest or refuse serious medical
treatment against parental con-
siderations, if the ill and elderly
may be disposed of because some-
body thinks it appropriate, how
‘far out’ is teenage-assisted
suicide. | think it fits right. nicely
into the package.””

Thank you, Ms. Moylan. And
all those other readers who have
taken the trouble to point out that

3,4&5 YEAR OLDS

RACING BEGINS
AT NOON

3 yr. olds
4 yr. olds
5 yr. olds

12:00 pm
12:45 pm
1:30 pm

Register 15 minutes prior
to each race.

PI

I might be just a bit morally con-
fused on the issue of euthanasia.

J} won't burden you immediately
with another column on such a
heavy subject. Although, in my
own defence, let me just say that,
at this stage of history, faced with
new, life-transforraing
technologies and a ceaseless media
torrent of conflicting cultures and
religious values, anyone who's not
a littie confused is probably really
confi used.

5x7 picture of ..
you in Ross

Benil
AGEA QP

indy car

On site draw for a pair of tickets to go
parasailing — courtesy of Aquila Parasail