BBC Film to show TP watch man commit suicide

[Bouncy Castle]

Apologies for the source.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ntary.html

The BBC stands accused of being ‘a cheerleader for assisted suicide’ after filming a man killing himself at the notorious Dignitas clinic for a controversial documentary.

Sir Terry Pratchett, a prominent supporter of euthanasia, presents the programme which follows a man in the late stages of motor neurone disease as he travels from Britain to the Swiss clinic.

The popular fantasy novelist – who himself has Alzheimer’s – remains at the 71-year-old’s bedside until he succumbs to the cocktail of drugs he has taken to end his life.

[Tonyblack]

I understand the press in general are pretty negative about this.

[meerkat]

It does not sound very savoury!

[Jan Van Quirm]

Well they're inferring that, if it had taken place in this country, Terry could have been prosecuted just for being there and not stopping the suicide 'victim'. Point is it's perfectly legal in Switzerland and how can people who opt to terminate their lives be 'victims' - it's their choice not someone standing over them with the needle browbeating them into being injected

If this was a woman who needed an abortion for sound medical reasons then they'd be spouting on about her right to choose and preventing unnecessary suffering on her own and the child's behalf. This is no different - in fact it's far more ethical because the potential deceased has all the say in it and doesn't want to live on in pain and/or humilation or vegetative ignorance! It's actually disgusting to deny people this right to follow their own feelings and wishes I think.

[Teppic]

I'm pleasently surprised by the comments under this article. Normally the Daily Mail comments section is a sanctury for those foaming at the mouth with outrage, but they seem to be pretty thoughtful for once.

[meerkat]

It does not sound very savoury!

I'm not saying it is wrong. In fact when the sand runs out in my timer, I don't want to be kept going by artificial means. I think it's your right to choose.

I just wonder who had the idea to do the programme.

[The Mad Collector]

From the BBC web site

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13088111

[Jan Van Quirm]

It does not sound very savoury!

I'm not saying it is wrong. In fact when the sand runs out in my timer, I don't want to be kept going by artificial means. I think it's your right to choose.

I just wonder who had the idea to do the programme.

Sorry meer - I didn't mean that you were wrong to say that. It isn't a savoury subject, but it's one most people could understand rather better than the law and the media seem to think if they were given more information like this programme will do. The subject's getting demonised under the umbrella of the law and yet nobody's been prosecuted for booking plane tickets to get people who want to die to a place where it's legal. It's just brushing the issue under the carpet and makes life even more of a burden for everyone who's facing the inevitable and, instead of giving them some power over how long they have to suffer, forces them go about things in a cloak and dagger fashion dodging a law that's maybe capable of being interpreted more humanely for all concerned.

I feel very strongly about this and can't see anything wrong with Terry being involved, given his views on the subject and, as he says might one day need Dignitas' services himself if this country continues to resist legislating to allow this sensibly, instead of people having to go to the expense of going to Switzerland to die in peace. The fact that there've been no prosecutions shows that the law already tacitly accepts that assisted 'suicide' is ultimately an elective issue for the terminally ill else they would still prosecute more aggressively. What it actually means is that, as usual, it's all about money and people who can't afford Dignitas have no choice at all except to stick it out here to a very bitter end because they can't expose their loved ones and medical care team to the risk of jail term. This won't be a Logan's Run situation and it'll never be compulsory, just another way for doctors to do their job and mitigate pain and suffering.

Abortion was a crime once too and babies were still killed anyway and so were a lot of the women who decided there was no option but to get rid and went ahead anyway only to die from infection or ineptitude in dirty back street surgeries. This isn't any different and far more justified as consent is demonstratably available, in advance, in the open.

[Broccolee]

I think this choice should be legalized all over the world.I don´t see any point at all in keeping someone "alive" by any means who doesn´t want to.If one can have the choice and the possibility of saying goodbye in dignity,I for one don´t see why that should be wrong.And I think its good that Terry is trying to make this statement.

[spideyGirl]

Unfortunately Jan, it's probably the same people who wish to prevent 'assisted suicide' who also want to ban abortion. They would also see no difference. It's basis is in religion from what I can gather. That is, to take a human life is wrong, whether an unborn child or your own. I disagree with this view but I do share concerns about the potential for abuse of this though.

The decison for a person to take their own life is about an individual feeling they have no choice but to end it because the alternative (living on) is too much. I think that can be true for those who are terminally ill or very unhappy. The pain is just too unbearable.

At least for those beyond medical help, I think they should indeed have the power to decide when they feel enough is enough. It is they afterall who are the ones in pain. Surely that is true compassion?

I do wonder though if this becomes more the norm, would we extend it to children who are terminally ill too?

[raisindot]

I'm all for assisted suicide and (consensual!) euthanasia, but the whole idea of filming a suicide and sitting down next to the person and watching them kill themself as a means of furthering one's own education on the subjet is a bit clinical and chilling to me, much as I support Pterry's efforts in this area. I don't know if I would be able to watch a person take their own life, especially someone who wasn't a close friend or relative.

I may be a little raw on this subject, as a close friend of mine who wasn't chronically ill killed himself two days ago, leaving his wife and two young children.

[Dotsie]

Ouch. Sorry to hear that J-I-B.

[spideyGirl]

Oh raisindot that is sad

Not a lot one can say at times like these, as I've known them myself, sending some your way

[Jan Van Quirm]

I've been having connection probs and so couldn't follow much on here until today. Big apologies to anyone, (especially Jeff ) if I upset them . My views and remarks are purely geared to people able to make rational decisions on ending their own lives when there is no reason to continue with debilitating pain, suffering or prior to losing any meaningful consciousness.

Having said that, this documentary is not about suicide. It is about someone who, not having any other option in the UK to end his inoperable, incurable, insidious, life-sapping, motor skill-killing, dignity-robbing, fatal illness, namely motor neurone disease at the age of 71, because he is ready to die and has no reason to live on or cause further distress to his family, has chosen to go to Dignitas to end his suffering and agreed to the BBC filming his journey.

Maybe it is in 'poor taste' to film it but presumably the person in question felt strongly enough about his choice to agree to participate in the programme. It's not like they're poised on the ground waiting for some poor sod at their wit's end wanting to end it all by jumping from a great height is it? This is a medical procedure like having chemo-therapy or undergoing last-ditch life-saving surgery which could maybe also be life-ceasing . Dignitas do not kill people - they end lives that have been lived enough and are over in all but name, legally.

[Cheery]

I can say only one thing: I think the press's negativity about this is totally wrong. I think it's good that a patient can choose to die before the end game. The purpose of medicine is to make people feel better. Not to force them to fight a loosing battle they do not want to fight.

And I agree with you Jan, I couldn't have said it better.

Unfortunately a campaign has started against it, but it looks like people will continue to vote for assisted suicide, if it comes to a referendum.

Anyway, I am proud that assisted suicide is legal here.