Murderer, killer, Dr. Death and the Australian Kevorkian, all some of the things Dr. Philip Nitschke has been called. For those who aren’t aware, Nitschke is an Australian doctor who was recently invited by the Hemlock Society of the United States to present “What’s New in Hastening the Dying Process” at their January National Convention in San Diego, California. American Hemlock is an organization that promotes euthanasia.
Now why should anyone care about this guy any more than hometown boy Jack Kevorkian? The answer is simple; Nitschke feels that all people, not just the sick, the dying or elderly, should be allowed to end their life if they choose to via what he calls the “peaceful pill.” “This would mean,” Nitschke explains, “that the so-called peaceful pill should be available in supermarkets so that those old enough to understand death could obtain death peacefully at the time of their choosing.”
Death and dying is the average American’s biggest fear. We take medication, visit the doctor, replace body parts and do countless other things to prolong our lives, but the truth is most of it isn’t natural. As the saying goes, there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. Let’s face it, you could avoid paying taxes if you really wanted to.
Most people believe that when you die you go to a better place. So why the constant fight to not go to a better place? We’ve gone out of our way to out smart nature and undo the survival of the fittest plan.
The taboo of death has prevented the legalization of euthanasia. The argument for the right to die has been made before for the elderly and the terminally ill, so I won’t make it here. But, what about the right to die for depressed teens, distraught lovers and debt-ridden divorcees?
I ask with as much compassion as possible, but why stop them? We keep folks alive by unnatural means (i.e. organ transplants, life support, etc.); why not end their lives by unnatural means? Yes, I know I must be a heartless uncaring cad, but listen to me anyway.
Legal suicide would help make the pain of the families of the people who kill themselves a little easier to deal with. How many people kill themselves each year without so much as an explanation? Let’s legalize suicide and make the simple explanation a required part of the dying process.
How many people leave this world in a, to put it nicely, less than tidy fashion? I’m sure families of the dearly departed would find the transition from living to the other world easier with a fully intact body. A fully intact body, I might add, could be used to donate organs and save lives.
It’s not that I don’t care; it’s just that when I look around I don’t see a massive shortage of human beings. Why not allow people who choose to decrease the surplus population do so in a neat and organized fashion?
I also hypothesize that certain people would be less apt to killing themselves if euthanasia was legal. After all, it’s hard to make a statement by killing yourself if anyone can do it.
The bottom line is I’m not telling everyone with any sort of problem they should run like lemmings off the nearest cliff. I’m simply advocating that if a person wants to leave this place and move on to the next, we shouldn’t find that idea so absurd and allow them to do so.
