Is it our right to die?

[styky]

Is it our right to die?
By THANE BURNETT




If Elizabeth MacDonald knew where her death would lead, she may not have committed suicide.

That's what her husband Eric believes, now that he's been left to deal with the mortal coils of her controversial decision.

Elizabeth, a Nova Scotia woman whose frail physical state concealed apparently very strong convictions, died June 8 at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich after a prolonged fight with multiple sclerosis. She relied on a wheelchair and, before her suicide, her affliction had begun to paralyze her throat.

The head of the Zurich clinic, Ludwig Minelli, estimates his facility, charging $7,200 a case, has helped more than 700 people -- including five Canadians -- end their days.

No one can recall any Canadian or British resident who has accompanied a patient to Switzerland for suicide -- including a psychologist from Barrie, Ont., who took a friend more than a year ago -- being criminally charged once they've returned home.



So Eric was at Elizabeth's side when the 38-year-old woman was handed enough barbiturates by clinic officials -- abiding by Swiss law, which allows for many cases of assisted suicide -- to die painlessly.

Diagnosed with the incurable illness eight years ago, she tried and failed to take her own life last year through a combination of sleeping pills and morphine. But the aftermath of her final, successful attempt in Switzerland has been anything but tranquil for Eric.

Earlier this week, after an RCMP investigation into whether he had somehow broken Canadian law, the retired Anglican priest finally heard that he would face no charges. But the news comes after days of worry and public scrutiny.

For Eric MacDonald, there's been barely enough time to take a breath, let alone begin to grieve his loss.

"If she had understood what (her decision) would cause, she would have had second thoughts," Eric tells Sun Media from the couple's Windsor, N.S., home. "If she had known the police would be involved, I doubt she would have carried out her intentions."

He's thankful she didn't hesitate, adding: "I'm glad she didn't know -- she really felt she had an escape.

"She said, 'You're not doing anything but taking me to Switzerland. There's no law in driving me (to the airport)."

But for some in this country -- where it's an offence to counsel or aid someone in committing suicide -- Elizabeth's last opinions wouldn't go unchallenged.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Ontario-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, asked the RCMP to investigate the case. His group became involved after her obituary mentioned the Swiss facility.

While the RCMP have decided no charges are warranted, it's been, largely, Schadenberg and his organization who have been vilified in Halifax-area letters to the editor and even calls to their headquarters.

"Don't attack the messenger," Schadenberg now asks.

"We weren't going after her husband."

But that, he says, is how it's being portrayed.

"We made it clear -- we had no idea whether charges would be laid or not," he says from his London, Ont., office.

Canadian laws are in place to protect the weak and vulnerable, he says, adding that they simply wanted to make sure Elizabeth MacDonald's rights were not violated.

He points out: "This is not a case of a woman at (a final) stage. She seemed to be more in fear of what the future (would) bring."

He doesn't believe it will lead to a trend of sick and ailing Canadians buying a one-way ticket to Switzerland, but says: "There is already an underground death culture in Canada."

Around the same time Elizabeth was in Switzerland, an Ipsos Reid survey in Canada found seven in 10 Canadians believe doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients should be legal.

Schadenberg became part of the group opposed to assisted suicide in 1999 -- the same year Elizabeth was diagnosed with MS. In fact, though he won't be specific, he is around the same age as the Nova Scotia woman.

Schadenberg says he was inspired to prevent euthanasia because of his 12-year-old autistic son.

"The proper response is to care for (the weak) and not kill them," he says.

"I'm not questioning she went through a lot of pain and suffering," he says of Elizabeth. "I'm asking what we could have done for her."

Schadenberg agrees his group should have reached out to Eric while asking the RCMP to investigate.

"I never viewed him as being the enemy," he says of Eric, saying the group will ask for the same investigation if it happens again.

As for the widower, he won't abandon Elizabeth's convictions.

"When she died, she felt she was denied a right that was hers," Eric says, his daughter -- one of two children -- listening nearby.

The fact that his wife had to fly far from home: "Is a miscarriage of justice that should be righted in this country."

He says a lot has been said about Elizabeth by people who never knew her -- or himself.

"I could no more counsel her (toward suicide) than tear off my own arm," he says.

He loved her, he explains, and beyond the public nature of her death, must now begin a long journey of missing her life.

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• You can call Thane Burnett at (416) 947-2444 or e-mail at thane.burnett@tor.sunpub.com
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnis ... 20566.html

[Roy Wilson]

Is it our right to die?

If its your decission I would say yes.

Would I assist someone, under certain instances yes.

Would I off myself, well depends , thought about it.

[styky]

How many times have we foolishly said "I wish I or I wish he/she were dead". We should count ourselves lucky that we weren't taken seriously.

My first thought about the right to die is I have the right to refuse treatment and allow death.

I have always had great difficulty in with a society that will not let an animal suffer in any way shape or form but do not extend that to our fellow human beings.

Although I also have difficulty with someone else deciding who lives and who dies. How long would it be before the criteria changed and we started pactising selection. Sounds too WWIIish.

Instead of the right to die issue I think that we should be disscusing why we allow people to suffer in pain so bad that they wish to die. The problem is the one of a system that does not give adiquate pain relief due to the fear of addiction at least thats the BS line that hand us.

Seems a good time to remember "There for the grace of God go I"

[leewgrant]

How many times have we foolishly said "I wish I or I wish he/she were dead". We should count ourselves lucky that we weren't taken seriously.

My first thought about the right to die is I have the right to refuse treatment and allow death.

I have always had great difficulty in with a society that will not let an animal suffer in any way shape or form but do not extend that to our fellow human beings.

Although I also have difficulty with someone else deciding who lives and who dies. How long would it be before the criteria changed and we started pactising selection. Sounds too WWIIish.

Instead of the right to die issue I think that we should be disscusing why we allow people to suffer in pain so bad that they wish to die. The problem is the one of a system that does not give adiquate pain relief due to the fear of addiction at least thats the BS line that hand us.

Seems a good time to remember "There for the grace of God go I"

I hope that when my time comes, if I'm suffering, I can be put out of my misery. But that's a long way from endorsing state sanctioned euthanasia where the next of kin can plot to do in Great Aunt Bertha just to get at her money.

[Muddy]

Styky you cut to the chase. No false crappola from you. My daughter works in a warehouse for the local funeral home.It`s called a senior citizens home by polite society. Once you enter one of these places you no longer have any say about your life or your coming or going. No more great adventures. Sometimes the staff are not to gentle or careing in dealing with people who can no longer defend or demand rights. Death is your only exit from these warehouses for the barely living. I would prefer that any narcotic,heroin or whatever be freely given to those who suffer such pain and indignity even if it kills them. We treat our elderly and terminally ill worse than an aged faithful dog.
Of course my exit from my earthly bonds will be at the hands of a jelous lover when I am at least in my 8th decade on this planet. Well it would be a controversial departure and give folks something to talk about.

[leewgrant]

Of course my exit from my earthly bonds will be at the hands of a jelous lover when I am at least in my 8th decade on this planet. Well it would be a controversial departure and give folks something to talk about.

Maybe even better would be to go while in the saddle. Through over exertion.

[bulldog905]

Of course my exit from my earthly bonds will be at the hands of a jelous lover when I am at least in my 8th decade on this planet. Well it would be a controversial departure and give folks something to talk about.

Maybe even better would be to go while in the saddle. Through over exertion.

Wouldn't be much fun for your wife though.

It would give a whole new meaning to "dead in bed".

[leewgrant]

Of course my exit from my earthly bonds will be at the hands of a jelous lover when I am at least in my 8th decade on this planet. Well it would be a controversial departure and give folks something to talk about.

Maybe even better would be to go while in the saddle. Through over exertion.

Wouldn't be much fun for your wife though.

It would give a whole new meaning to "dead in bed".

Who said anything about wife?

[Theresa]

Styky wrote:

I have always had great difficulty in with a society that will not let an animal suffer in any way shape or form but do not extend that to our fellow human beings.

This sentence caught my eye, because we are not animals we are humans with an eternal soul, so we should never be put down like an animal. Our passing should be made as comfortable as possible.

This argument would be based on a persons belief in the after life, for those who believe that we are created in the image and likeness of God, also believe that God has his reason for allowing our suffering.

Such a final decision could risk the eternal separation from God because one decided to be God . Another concern is that those who want to make this decision make it for the rest if it becomes law.

A third concern this message is passed to our youth when they see how we value life and they role model what they see.

[leewgrant]

My father refused treatment that would have kept him alive. He was 87, had blackouts, was hard of hearing and was losing his eyesight. His only prospect was a Death House, aka an old folks home. It was my job to keep the doctors from trying to "save" him.

Did he do the right thing? For him, yes. Another might view it differently.

lwg

[styky]

Styky wrote:

I have always had great difficulty in with a society that will not let an animal suffer in any way shape or form but do not extend that to our fellow human beings.

This sentence caught my eye, because we are not animals we are humans with an eternal soul, so we should never be put down like an animal. Our passing should be made as comfortable as possible.

That's just it. We are not. Because of the lack of pain control and fear of addiction our loved ones are left to wither in agony.

This argument would be based on a persons belief in the after life, for those who believe that we are created in the image and likeness of God, also believe that God has his reason for allowing our suffering.

So is it in fact what you are saying that if I believe in God and an afterlife There is no pain release for me in my dying days. That I must suffer relentlessly or God will not accept me in the afterlife. This is not something that the God that I worship would allow.

A third concern this message is passed to our youth when they see how we value life and they role model what they see.

Yes it is difficult to explain to a young person why their dog can get immediate medical attention and end of life pain control but none of this is available to your granny whithering in the bed.

[leewgrant]

Yes it is difficult to explain to a young person why their dog can get immediate medical attention and end of life pain control but none of this is available to your granny whithering in the bed.

That's what my father saw as his future. This is why he refused treatment.

[Muddy]

Well if my first plan fails as explained, ,I certainly hope that I have either Physicians or some brave relatives to give me freedom from pain,with either Heroin,Morphine or some other pleasure enhancing drug. Everydau compassionate Docs give just a little too much morphine on compassionate grounds that do not go into medical reports.

[styky]

Well if my first plan fails as explained, ,I certainly hope that I have either Physicians or some brave relatives to give me freedom from pain,with either Heroin,Morphine or some other pleasure enhancing drug. Everydau compassionate Docs give just a little too much morphine on compassionate grounds that do not go into medical reports.

Exactly right it's medicine not so well kept secret.

[Roy Wilson]

Well if my first plan fails as explained, ,I certainly hope that I have either Physicians or some brave relatives to give me freedom from pain,with either Heroin,Morphine or some other pleasure enhancing drug. Everydau compassionate Docs give just a little too much morphine on compassionate grounds that do not go into medical reports.

Exactly right it's medicine not so well kept secret.

Exactly: And you know my feelings on this subject. I would be the last one to say no never.

Some times you have to do what is right and not what is acceptable to the "moral" majority.