A 60-year-old man killed himself yester day and left this incredibly detailed website as his suicide note by Chelsea Fagan
This is the account of an intelligent lucid man who knew perfectly well that we was doing and did it with the intent of leaving a minimum amount of pain or confusion. This man decided to take his death into his own hands. He did not want to die not recognizing the people that he loved, or losing the ability to say his last words. He rejects the idea of dying miserably and wants to die with “dignity”.
Suicide and euthanasia is often associated as both are the choice killing of oneself. This man consciously took away his life as he did not even want to suffer the last years of his life, what more patients who suffer daily from an incurable disease? Many argue that it is our moral obligation to save all who are ill and should never deprive anyone the access to medication, however who are we to meddle with people’s lives. Who are we to “play god” and alter people’s “expiration date”? If people support the act of giving and preserving life, why do we not have the right to take it away? Every individual should have the freedom to choose what they want to do with their life, especially if their future is bleak and they will never be able to live normally again. To see yourself live through the path to death may just be one of the most painful experiences as to start to lose all natural functions. Patients with neurological degeneration may even opt for euthanasia as they want to make their final decision to die before they lose control over their body and mind. Death might just be the better option to take them out of their misery, or in other words – mercy killings. If DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) is allowed, why is euthanasia banned? Both are means to stop your treatment, stop your suffering and let you die.
However, allowing consented killings rocks the foundation and the sanctity of life. We have built our societies on fundamental truths, one of which is the respect for life and it should never be deliberately taken away. This may challenge the line drawn between murder and “mercy-killings” where serial killers could impose their belief in the name of “helping his victims from suffering”.
Also with the advancement of medical science, people who chose to die due to their incurable diseases could have lived if they persevered longer. Many who face terminal illness also suffer from depression or psychopathy due to their devastation and hopelessness. However there is no shame to choose death as we have no right to condemn them when we have never been through their pain.
Despite the debate between for and against euthanasia, our conscience and every nerve in our body knows that killing is wrong. The 7th commandment states “thou shall not kill” and it is a rule, a sacred belief, a universal truth that does not take religion to instruct us.
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