Pro-Choice in Matters of Life and Death

The other night I watched one man take his life - or rather his death in his own hands, so to say. I watched a documentary made in 2006 by Canadian Oscar winner John Zaritsky on National Public TV around midnight. I am so glad I happened to come upon this as I am absolutely pro-choice in life and death. I am for options. I am most certainly against unnecessary suffering. 

In the documentary Craig Ewert, 59, chose assisted suicide from fear, justified fear in my opinion, over the serious potential of suffering helplessly due to the effects of Lou Gehrig's disease. He had to face a future that eventually would lead to his inability to move any muscle, not even an eye. He rightly worried about how to communicate his needs in such a state. To follow this man's, an accomplished English professor's last day was deeply moving and odd in the realization that no, Mr. Ewert would not chose death if he had better options. No, this man was not without conflict, but he stuck to his decision as time was of the essence. Too soon he may no longer have been able to swallow the overdose of sleep medication by himself a requirement by Dignitas, an organization that offers the option of euthanasia legally in Switzerland. Oddly this very scared, yet heroic man passed away in an apartment on a street that shared the name with my Mom, where my parents had lived in their very first apartment in Zuerich. 

The social worker present for Mr. Ewert's last choice, a middle aged man, employed by Dignitas, shared a story in the documentary where in he described how he sang Beatles songs upon request for one man in his charge. Surely a kind of guy to my liking, present for another in whatever form it may take, to the best of his ability. Human beings deserve a dignified exit of their choice, under no pressure, but in the compassionate care of another human being. "... it is known that 21% of people receiving assistance by Dignitas and 65% of women attending Exit do not have a terminal or progressive illness" - Wikipedia

Personally I had the honor of having been present to a few patients dying in a care facitly, two beings right under my hand. It is an awe inspiring powerful experience. It is certainly an aspect of living we tend to be too protected from, too walled off. After all death is natural, we all share the fact that we will die. I have performed the last ritual washing and preparing in my function as a nurses aid in the nineties and I insisted on doing so as a last service to my Dad only a few years ago.
 

While I tend to refuse to be a casual onlooker to personal misery, say on TV as regards war scenes and the like, I watched this documentary with unflinching eyes, because this man, Craig Ewert, chose to share his last choice with us, wanted to be seen, heard and understood in his last, most controversial to some decision. This choice, the whole shebang of sharing what led up to the decision and execution, and Mr. Ewert submitting himself to the taping and telling of his story was an act of true heroism in the face of death. It deserves our attention, consideration and admiration.