The fatal pact began on 13 September when Lee, using the username Heavens Little Girl, posted: "I'm desperately seeking a pact in the UK. I'm 34, female, and live in the Essex area."People who participate in such groups clearly think that suicide is a "rational" response to either their own problems, or even worse, the problems of strangers. And indeed, we know that many people don't oppose euthanasia for those close to death anyway, seeing it as a reasonable and rational response to suffering.
She then explained her preferred method was gas and asked for a partner with a car who could pick her up. "My time frame is As Soon As Possible," she said. "If you are very serious, please email me."
The previous month she had posted about planning to kill herself in a cupboard or bathroom and other users shared tips about how to overcome practical problems she had encountered.
By 9 September she reported she was "looking into partners right now, hopefully I have found the right one," and last Sunday afternoon, Lumb, using the username Endthis, wrote: "I'm just saying goodbye … and to all you people suffering I hope you find what your looking for."
Eight fellow forum members wished him luck and bade him farewell, but none tried to dissuade him.
But for the depressed but otherwise healthy, like this English pair, there is a perfectly rational argument against suicide - namely that millions of people over the centuries have wanted, or tried, to commit suicide, failed and then later led happy lives.
I can understand why the non religious might reject a call to give up on suicide if it comes from a religious perspective about the inherent value of life and what God wants. But the real evil in these anonymous people instructing others about how to do suicide right is that they are not encouraging rationality at all, and it's not even their own families who will be affected. Yet they will think they can justify their role philosophically, I bet.
In a sense this is the ultimate result of the 'personal sovereignty' justification for euthanasia. It's easy for us to say that the terminally ill should be free to choose death because we can comprehend that kind of suffering by imagining a point where we were in great pain and amplifying it a hundredfold. But it may be that those who are young and fit have their own unique suffering that to them is as uncomfortable and unbearable as any of the nerve-based pain of those that are dying. If we say that the individual has the 'right to choose' death then it's inconsistent to then remove that 'right' from others just because we find it hard to comprehend their suffering. That's why I'm concerned about euthanasia - it seems that if we apply the principle of 'self-sovereighty' in a consistently it will result in more than the death of the sick and elderly.
ReplyDeleteYes, pretty much agree with you there, and in fact Philip Nitschke has made it clear that depression is not a reason for not respecting a person's decision to kill him or herself. Self sovereignty over rules everything.
ReplyDeleteMaybe what people like this English couple need is a good dose of cognitive behaviour therapy, to snap them out of what they think is a logical response to their situation. And what infuriates me is that there are other anonymous people out there encouraging others to stick to their plans. It's much the same with the appalling anorexia encouraging websites - although I must say that the mindset that develops in those people seems more of a completely irrational/emotional thing that (so I beleive) has proved much harder to dislodge than suicidal thoughts.