On Assisted Suicide
There are many that may take umbrage with there mere title of this piece. It has been deemed as ‘disrespectful’ to refer to the issue at hand with such a term; even by MPs during the debate on the issue in the House of Commons. Instead, the term ‘assisted dying’ has been considered more appropriate. In Canada it is referred to as MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying); having the acronym allows for one not even to have to use the word ‘dying’. Whilst respectful dialogue and compassionate understanding are important, there has been little honest discussion on the issue. There has been much word play and sleight of hand to distract us from the core issue of what we are discussing: a State sanctioned resource for an accessible and pain-free suicide. This doesn’t automatically mean that I am correct in seeing Assisted Suicide as nothing short of a moral black hole, and there are weighty arguments against my position. But dishonesty about what we are talking about has stifled thorough discourse...