The right to choose, and to die with dignity.

Firstly, I acknowledge just with the subject of this entry I may anger some people. That's their right, too. And I have no medical experience in a professional context. My stance on this issue does come primarily from personal experience as well, but the specifics there are too emotional for me to discuss here anyway, and I'm trying in earnest to make this entry objective. So here goes.

Euthanasia, just as a word, is unmistakable. For everybody familiar with it, it must conjure up the sights, smells or even the mood of a hospital or nursing home. And when you've experienced any of these sensations, they can be very hard to shake. Even just as a visitor.

Now, I know medical personnel all must take and keep the Hippocratic Oath, for the health and well-being of all their patients. And I'm not saying we should use violent or chemical means for assisted suicide. But life in a vegetative state is simply no life at all. There's no dignity, no freedom, and certainly no comfort or happiness.

Plus, I don't know the exact numbers or statistics here, but Australia spends considerable money annually on caring for people in palliative care, most of whom quite frankly can probably no longer be helped, instead of on care for others who can. Show me the fairness in that. More support should also go to the families and carers, who have to live with heavy burdens of their own.

I wanted to include here a clip from Schindler's List, but I couldn't find it online. While that film is about the Holocaust, this scene shows a group of terminally ill hospital patients being given drugs which will put them to sleep. They are basically saying: "Please, let me go." And they get their wish, thankfully just before the Nazis can kill them far less compassionately, and in a much worse environment.

Euthanasia carries valid arguments on both sides. But I refuse to accept it is murder. Murder comes from hatred, ignorance and misunderstanding. Assisted suicide, though it may technically be killing, comes from compassion, sympathy, and a desire to grant someone new liberty, dignity, and a right to their own choice. If we can value those traits and blessings so highly in life, so we should also in death.