It is clear I am completely rooting for euthanasia to one
day be finally recognised as a legal, ethical and even merciful treatment of
the terminally ill. Don’t jump the gun and immediately conclude that this comes
from someone who devalues life and take life lightly. I have received much
incredulity – raised eyebrows, narrowing eyes completing pinched expressions as
though I had offended them personally with my ‘diabolical’ perspective on life
and death.
I had just completed yet another Jodi Picoult masterpiece,
Lone Wolf, a case study of the emotional complexity of human and our attitudes towards
death. In her earlier work, Mercy, she placed the spotlight on a man convicted
for killing his wife – only because she asked to be put out of her misery and
pain from a terminal illness. These are all the many shades and layers of grey
she is delving into to show us that sometimes what you firmly believe to be the
only ‘right’ is someone else’s ‘wrong’.
Of course, we can all agree, life is precious and to be
valued. BUT, there might come a time when you have to decide if a life is worth
living. Or maybe not, because you will argue that the concept of a life not
worth living does not exist; and that any chance of survival and regaining an
acceptable quality of life, however medically proven to be slim or even
impossible is to be fought for at all cost.
It could be someone’s ‘right’, but to prolong one’s death
against all medically-proven odds of a miracle sounds to me a terrible ‘wrong’.
In the end, this is not a moral judgement call but a personal choice to live or
leave.
No comments:
Post a Comment