Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Dying with dignity

The ST interview with palliative care specialist Rosalie Shaw today serves as a stinging reminder to our government about the value of life, and what dying with dignity means.

The headline was brilliant - Helping the dying with living.

So much wisdom from Dr Shaw. I liked especially the quotes that were pulled out:

"People fear being hooked up to a ventilator at the end of life. This fear drives the euthanasia debate. We should not prolong the dying process. But euthanasia is not about allowing death. It is about killing. It's doing something with the intent to end life."

"Euthanasia makes the elderly and the ill more vulnerable. Society wants a magic bullet for everything. But life is difficult. Wanting to fix everything is part of a denial of the reality of life."

"The automatic response of most doctors here to requests for euthanasia is 'Oh no, doctors are not allowed to do that here.' Instead, what patients need is a listening ear, compassion, care and the truth on how long they have left."