Does Anyone Have the Right to Die?
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
A British television has shown a man on its dying moments. Craig Ewert, an American computer scientist from Chicago went to live in Britain when he became terminally ill, was filmed and aired in a British reality show while committing suicide and dying. He had wanted to die without causing much suffering to his family. But because assisted suicide is illegal in Britain, he went abroad to end his life. He was 59 when he died at a Swiss clinic.
The scene was chilling. Ewert was lying in bed when he swallowed the barbiturates, while his wife stood at his wife. To mask the bitter taste and help him swallow, he drank a glass of apple juice. Afterward, he used his teeth to turn off the ventilator. The camera was focused on him up to his last breath.
Mary, Ewert’s wife, wrote to the British press that her husband is enthusiastic about the filming of his death. “He was keen to have it shown because when death is hidden and private, people don’t face their fears about it.”
Ewert was diagnosed with degenerative motor neuron disease and was recorded saying: “If I go through with it, I die as I must at some point. If I don’t go through with it, my choice is essentially to suffer, and to inflict suffering on my family, and then die.”
The documentary was directed by Oscar winner director John Zaritsky and had been shown on Canadian and Swiss TV, and at several film festivals. In Britain, it provoked a lot of controversy. Zaritsky had argued that it would have been “less than honest” without showing the actual suicide. The viewers will be left wondering if the death was not pleasant, cruel, or against the patient’s will.
But although the documentary film was condemned, public opinion polls show that 80 percent of Britons believe that mercy killing should be legalized. However, the opposition from religious groups remains strong.