In a couple of weeks, the Assisted Dying Bill will be debated and voted on in the House of Commons. As is traditional in matters of conscience, MPs will rightly get a free vote. I am strongly in favour of enabling people to choose to end their lives in this way and at the same time I of course respect the rights of those who would not choose to die this way. In theory, this should be a straightforward decision for MPs. But it won’t be and I fear that the law will not be changed and people who wish to end their own pain and suffering will remain forced to stay alive, against their wishes.
It goes without saying that religion is poking its head in where, frankly, it isn’t wanted. I would have thought God’s vicars on Earth had enough on their plates, sorting out the perverts and paedophiles that have been allowed to be protected by the likes of the disgraced Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, but no. They are out and about campaigning to retain the status quo.
I am satisfied with the safeguards that would operate and so prevent abuse, but clearly some folk aren’t. We are obviously concerned that wrong ‘uns would go around killing people willy-nilly without restriction. Let’s be honest: some evil being may seek to do that, but in the wider picture, this is about choice. Why should we not have the choice to take our own decisions about our own lives, including the termination of it?
Ah yes. Freedom of choice. Let’s resurrect some examples of issues where people should be able to make their own decisions. Equal (gay) marriage is one. Why should gay people not be able to marry? It should be their own choice, not that of some elderly frock-wearing virgin priest. If you do not believe in gay marriage, then don’t marry a gay person but do not tell a gay person how to live their lives. Note to religious hardliners: I can prove to you gay people exist. You cannot prove that your Gods do.
And there’s abortion. You might disagree profoundly with women having control over their reproductive systems, so here’s my advice. Don’t have an abortion. If you disagree with birth control, then don’t use it. Fuck me, it’s not rocket science. In simple terms, mind your own business.
Have these objectors ever seen someone overwhelmed with dementia, Parkinsons and any number of awful conditions, being with someone who has no idea who or where they are, being fed through a tube and being hoisted onto a toilet when the giant nappy is full? Someone who told you years ago that they’d rather be dead than go through this kind of thing? I was with such a person. It was desperately upsetting seeing the complete loss of dignity. You, as a free person, might wish to be kept alive in such circumstances and I respect your choice. I would not. I cannot see the point. But my view is that this long-overdue change in the law will not happen.
Even the most liberal, with a small l, people are lining up in the no lobby. The Observer, for example, is campaigning for a no vote with the utmost subtlety, by way of trying to put doubts in our minds, with lots of what ifs. What if a Harold Shipman character got in on the act? You cannot be certain that death is what the person really wants. What if it’s a greedy family trying to claim their inheritance early? Look, people do this stuff anyway but it’s not just that. Politicians, scared if something goes wrong, are preparing the ground to encourage a no vote. “This will cost a fortune,” say some. “We can’t afford it.” It’s not just flip-flopping: it’s a cynical way of making sure nothing changes, that people are denied the choice to end their lives even if they are perfectly able mentally to make a decision.
In the end, we will end up where we are now, with the chance of people’s living hells carrying on in perpetuity. Would I like to choose to end my life with the assistance of others? Well, I don’t know at the moment but I would like to have the freedom to do so should circumstances change, as they may well do as I slip into my dotage. I would find it reassuring to know that if my life became so bad, through pain, through some terrible mental affliction, I could avoid the worst of it. Seeing someone you love suffering terribly is as bad as it gets. Being with that same someone as they died peacefully in front of me was a deliverance, a blessing. The pain died in that moment and dignity returned. There was nothing spiritual about it. Just immense relief.
Freedom goes only so far in our world. When a much loved family pet suffers, we take them to the vet for a fatal injection. When we suffer, we just have to go on suffering, not just in unbearable pain but worse still when we don’t even know we are suffering. I have seen the signs, I know which way the wind is blowing. Nothing is going to change and the suffering will go on. My ideas of freedom are very different from the no lobby, I’m afraid. And it makes me very sad.
