Euthanasia: A family perspective

By Guest in In the news on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 @ 10:13

Over the past few months there have been a number of articles debating Euthanasia. In July 2008 we saw the harrowing drama about the last 18 months of Doctor Anne Turner who, after having witnessed the death of her husband Jack from an incurable neurological disease, is diagnosed with a near-identical illness. Doctor Turner made headlines when in early 2006 she gave notice of her intention to travel to a clinic in Zurich to die - a move not initially supported by her family and friends.

There has been a lot of debate assisted suicide; a highly contentious subject and we can all take the moral high ground but in reality it made make me think personally about the dilemma of family and the medical profession and suddenly brought it home when I thought about a relative who is 93, and living on her own. Relatives visit when they can but she spends most of the time on her own and tells anyone willing to listen that she wants to die, her general practitioner explains this away as depression following the death of her husband. Personally, I applaud the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland who offer assisted euthanasia.