Canada Revisits Old Debate on Assisted Suicide

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Confined to a wheelchair, in constant pain and unable to bathe without help, a 63-year-old grandmother has forced the issue of assisted suicide into Canadian courts for the third time in two decades.

Gloria Taylor has Lou Gehrig’s disease, a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological affliction.

“It is my life and my body and it should be my choice as to when and how I die,” she said before going to the British Columbia Supreme Court last Thursday to challenge Canada’s ban on assisted suicide, a crime carrying a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

Isn’t it about time the medical and governmental powers allowed a person to make their own decision on how and when they want to die?

Euthanasia is illegal in all states of the United States. Physician aid-in-dying is legal in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Montana. I say make assisted suicide legal in every state. The only downside I see is if; someone wants to send their mate to the “happy hunting ground” before their time that is a problem.

There is more consideration given to an injured or terminally animal then a human being. When a horse breaks his leg the owner is allowed to shoot the poor suffering critter in the head. When a pet is physically at the end of their stay on earth, the vet gives it a shot and in a few minutes their suffering is gone. Let’s do the same for our two legged friends.

There has always been a lot of speculation that a patient kept alive on life support to boost up the medical fees. That issue can be heavily debated.

The real fact of the matter is, there isn’t anyone on this planet that wants to end up in a nursing home, strapped to a wheel chair in a hallway with their tongue hanging out and all doped up to keep them “manageable”. Worse yet is to have your diaper changed at 75 years old.

Let’s face it. There is nothing dignified about dying. If a person is lucky they will get hit in the head by a wheel that fell off of an airplane or get sucked up into a tree shredder and end it quickly.

In my opinion, if the person has all their marbles and can make a clear rational decision, let them have the final say so. The older a person gets the more logical it becomes.

There was an old Eskimo tradition I admired. When a person go old enough and they no use to themselves or anyone else, the village would put them on a iceberg and let them freeze to death. A painless way to die.

It should be standard practice that when a person is born; issue them a pill and leave it up to them when they want to pop it.

Riposa in pace