Downside to the right to die (From South Wales Argus)

Downside to the right to die

11:34am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in Letters

I AM sure that people who advocate legalising assisted suicide are speaking from the heart, but legalising killing instead of caring for a patient or to put them down like a dog is not to respect the dignity of the person as an embodied being. Where do the advocates think that legalising assisted suicide will lead?

Distrust in our doctors and nurses as they are asked to facilitate killing their patient. Hospices no longer needed for the disabled and elderly and ill people under pressure to take the easy way out. At a time when all the good will among the public towards people with disabilities has never been higher than at these Paralympics Games, suddenly they could be faced with the sickening prospect that if they struggle with suicidal feelings, they will be given help to die instead of care and support.

Suicide prevention is the humane response to suicidal people and it’s the usual response across the NHS, the justice system, education, and so on. But when a person with a disability or degenerative condition is suicidal, MPs, lawyers and media pundits start talking about the right to die.

Norman Plaisted, Vivian Road, Newport