The whole notion of assisted suicide challenges me.
This may be informed by my upbringing as a catholic.
What weighs however more heavily on my thinking is a personal experience.
An old family friend was very ill though lucid in Belfast’s city hospital.
She was clearly in a state of considerable discomfort.
I recall in my presence a discussion of something being administered with the approval of a relative to bring the evident discomfort to a close. My direct instinct told me there was only one outcome.
Treatment was accessed medically followed by a narrative by the relative that she was ‘surprised’ the anticipated result hadn’t yet realised itself.
I left the hospital uneasy to learn shortly my old friend was no longer with us.
This was not assisted suicide.
This was probably an outworking of balanced medical ethics when a person is suffering and inevitably close to death. ‘Humane’ treatment is probably the correct description.
That said —-To witness what I saw was far too close for my personal make-up.
I am not being judgemental. This is a personal point of view.
One wonders if I had to watch a member of my family writhing in lingering agony how I would react.
This debate on
‘ assisted suicide ‘ leaves me emotionally cold without probing it too philosophically.
Thanks
