About seven years ago, my next door neighbor Patty called and asked me to come over to her home, because her husband was in trouble. I walked right over, and found Frank sitting on a porch swing which hung below their gazebo. He asked me if his wife had called, and I nodded affirmatively. I took a seat next to him, and we talked about a half an hour. Only later did I learn that he had a loaded gun at his side and that he was ready to take his own life. Still to this day, both he and his wife express their gratitude for the simple act I did that night.
The thing is, I don’t know if I did them a favor. Since that night, his health has only declined, and his health problems have been too numerous in the last seven years to list. He has gone into heart failure twice in the last year alone and has had several dangerous surgeries performed – all to keep him alive, when the quality of his life is entirely gone. Since the last major surgery, he has become rail thin and is now entirely dependent upon his wife to take care of him, and sadly, she is now rapidly declining as well. He is trapped in a hell of unrelenting guilt, afraid of how much of a burden he is to his wife, and afraid of what will happen to his wife if he dies. It is an impossible situation, filled with constant pain and anguish, for which I have no answers.
Perhaps there is a stigma against me stating what I am about to, but I have no patience for propriety, so here it is: They might have been better off if I had not intervened that summer evening. Of course, I have no ultimate way of knowing this, but I refuse to lie and pretend that I have not had this thought before.
Having often reflected upon my actions and the aftermath of that night 7 years ago, the issue of the ‘right to die’ has become one of the most concerning issues to me, and perhaps it is one of the most disregarded issues in society at large. But it is not just my concern for others which has prompted me to consider the right to die, as I have dealt with chronic pain myself and understand suicidal thinking better than I would like to admit. I see with great clarity how society is failing millions of people, many who cry out in hopeless agony with just one simple desire: to be heard.
Right now I would like to be fully heard, as my views on this issue are enlightened and in alignment with the vast majority of the population. The right to die is an issue of great urgency, which cannot be understated. It also perfectly reflects how society cares for the living. In order to discuss the right to die, first we need to define it:
- Pertaining to, expressing, or advocating the right to refuse extraordinary measures intended to prolong someone’s life when the are terminally ill or comatose.
- A law legalizing the self-administration by a terminally ill person of life-ending medication prescribed by a physician.
While the first definition means to withhold life-preserving medicine, the second means to actively administer life-ending medicine and is also known as assisted suicide, or more euphemistically, ‘assisted death’ . There is also a third possibility of active human euthanasia, which is when the physician administers the life-ending medicine themselves. This option is not preferred, however, because the final act is best undertaken by the patient themselves, rather than placing the responsibility upon the doctor. Obviously, the emotional burden of this could be quite taxing.
As of March 2018, active human euthanasia is legal in five countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Luxembourg, and Canada. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and in the US states of Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Montana, Washington D.C., and California. Despite the recent progress, this still represents a small fraction of the entire world’s population.
The mark of a sane society is that it protects the rights of its citizens, including the two most fundamental rights: the right to live, and the right to die. The right to live as I am using it means the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as written in the declaration of independence. This goes well beyond subsistence level existing – this is the right to Live, with a capital L. The right to die means that death is our own voluntary decision, and that we have the right to end our lives without an act of violence, bloodshed, or any type of action that could lead to further trauma and prolonged agony.
Right now, we live in a society that provides neither of these rights. While this may not be outwardly obvious to those who willingly blind themselves to the horrors of the world, it is quite apparent to those whom have lost the ability to take care of themselves and don’t have friends or family to help in their state of desperation. They live in a gray area, where society is willing to keep them alive as a shadow being, giving them just enough to subsist in misery. In effect, our society exemplifies the worst possible scenario – the denial of the right to live and the right to die.
The truth is that we, as a society and as individuals, have the responsibility to provide the right to Live to all people, and animals as well. This should be our primary concern. Before even considering the right to die, we need to pour all of our energy into the right to Live first, doing our utmost to support all individuals to live the best life possible. Then, and only then, when there is no possibility for someone’s condition to improve or if they are in excruciating pain which has no promise of swift relief, should we consider assisting them with their right to die. In such cases, the best solution would be for a small group of about five people to unanimously agree that all attempts to assist them have been made and there are no good solutions left to help them. Action would be taken with great care, yet without unnecessary delays.
It is my strong conviction that if we truly fought for and won the right to Live, the suicide rate would plummet, and the decision to die peacefully would quickly lose any type of negative stigma. The abuse of such laws would not be a concern if we, the people, did all we could to look after one another and dramatically improved our communities, lifestyle, and culture. In an enlightened society such as this, attitudes towards death would change quickly, with the common wisdom being that the body is simply a vessel for life, and not the whole of our identity. The Soul does indeed live on…making the transition from one state to another …likely to enter a body once again…whether it be angel, human, or animal.
With the mention of animals, we should rightfully inquire as to why we peacefully end the lives of our pets when they are in terminal conditions or are in great pain, yet do not offer human beings the same courtesy. Somehow, the life of a human being is deemed sacred and more precious than that of an animal, yet our actions betray these ideas of sacredness as the belligerent abuse and neglect of our fellow human beings runs rampant in this alienated modern world. It is total insanity, and our actions speak far louder than our words – if we truly valued Life, we would take care of the living – we would do more than merely keep hearts beating and lungs breathing.
The public opinion about the right to die is clear. A 2018 gallup poll tallied 72% of people supporting the right to die, and the combined results of several other polls placed the figures at 74% in favor, 14% against, and 12% undecided. The only group with a majority against the right to die were weekly church-goers. Recently, I posited the question about the right to die to several Facebook groups, and my estimation was that there were about five people in favor of the right to die for each one who was not – this was before I researched the statistics. The people in these groups were overwhelmingly in favor of the right to die, and my estimation closely mirrored the statistics cited above. Of course, there were a fair number who did not understand the concept, and there were others who were unable to write intelligibly – it was Facebook, after all.
From collecting and analyzing these responses I have gleaned an idea of roughly who is against the right to die, and it transcends a distinct group such as weekly church-goers. Who are they? They are people who consider the right to die only on a conceptual level, and not through empathy and experience. To them, the right to die is a conceptual issue to which they apply their religious ideologies, not making a clear decision themselves, but allowing their authorities to make the decision for them. To those without this conditioning, and those with enough experience of the terminally ill and suffering in general, the right to die is not perceived as an issue at all, for rights are not issues to be argued about – they are to simply be recognized.
Bringing the focus back to my former neighbor, I think of how he would be affected if we provided the rights to live and die. These questions come to mind:
What kind of strain would be lifted if he was not tortured by the thoughts of what would happen in the future?
What mental burden would he have if he knew that his wife would be taken care of if he were to die before her?
What kind of strain would be lifted if he knew that his decision to die would be respected, and that he would not have to resort to violent means if he absolutely could not take the pain any longer?
What level of distress would he have if he did not have to worry about his children judging him for deciding to end his life?
Unfortunately, I have no answers for this dear couple. They are deeply appreciative of me lending them an ear on the phone, and stopping by to talk over lemon bars, crafted at the local bakery up the road from their home. My most recent call was on Frank’s birthday, and I felt acute disappointment knowing that the day would not be special for him, but would be just another day – a day in a parade of days of brutal struggle. It is not enough for me to be appreciated. Going to sleep at night knowing that I did my best to be helpful does little to alleviate my concerns, for the battle will begin anew the following day.
This insanity needs to end. Millions of people in my country, and perhaps billions throughout the world wait for relief in quiet desperation in this very moment, perhaps having exhausted their efforts to be heard. Perhaps their mental faculties have been compromised by poisons in the drugs, the water, and the air, which have compromised their ability to speak, yet their hearts still murmur a soft plea for help. We drive by their homes in a fury, homes which have become prison cells to their occupants, oblivious to the pain and anguish, and the relentless silent screams for mercy. An epidemic of suffering exists which is so unbearably still and quiet, that the meaningless chatter of a few teenagers can drown them out in their entirety.
This insanity needs to end. We must demand our most basic rights, and not allow petty differences and naive confusion to stand in our way. Those who care must take action and win back that which should have never been absent in the first place. We need to make noise for those who are too sick and weak to make any themselves, moving forth with great confidence that we will win this righteous battle with speed and efficiency. When it comes to our rights, there is to be no compromise – only a demand, and then swift action. Of this, I have no doubts at all.
This insanity needs to end. If we are denied our most inalienable rights, then we exist as aliens on a foreign land, unfit for life at all.
This insanity needs to end. Until our rights to Live and die are fully restored to us, we have no rights at all.