Euthanasia: The Ongoing Debate
Q&A recently generated some pretty compelling television. The polarised euthanasia debate has reared its head again, placing a key player in the anti-euthanasia campaign, Professor Margaret Sommerville, against an elderly couple who lamented their wishes to self-euthanize. With the criminalisation of euthanasia enforceable against those even remotely implicit in the act, a recurring theme materialised through the show. Those who intend to self-euthanise are not telling their loved ones because they fear their family member may be found criminally liable and face sanction, even imprisonment, leaving many to die in desolate loneliness. Upon being told that how someone dies affects the community and contravenes respect for life, Mrs Fellows responded with profanities to the effect of, ‘nonsense’ sparking a social media storm.
To remove euthanasia from this ideologically charged battlefield and gain some clarity on the reasoning of both pro choice advocates, The Daily spoke with Shayne Higson, from Go Gentle Australia and Dying with Dignity.
