Covid demonstrated that Western allopathic medicine has a dark – fueled by 20th-century scientism and 21st-century technocratic globalism – to which it is increasingly turning.
I wrote about this issue in my novel Naked Singularity (which also explores the larger, attendant topic of human agency). When it's illegal for a terminally ill elderly person to commit suicide, this opens up that person and the family to predators who are willing to help, for a price. It's the end-of-life equivalent of illegal abortion clinics.
But one does not want the state or some other entity to decide whether or not someone lives or dies. It must be the patient and/or the family, with no pressure from anyone else. With all matters of moral complexity and uncertainty like this, I think each case must be examined individually. As Dr Baker says, hard cases make bad laws. Hard cases can't really be formalized and complex analysis is required for all complex cases.
With Canada now offering death to girls with anorexia, people with "depression", and all manner of health-care co$t saving conditions, it's easy to see that this is going down abortion alley. (Remember "Safe, Legal, and Rare"? Now you can order abortion pills online.)
"Medically-assisted" death also provides the salivating transplant teams with "fresh-meat" - another financial incentive to do harm, and to encourage any vulnerable person to just die already.
The spiritual component in this is immeasurable. To legalize physician assisted suicide damages both the patient and the doctor, and spreads a life-denying ethos throughout society. All life is precious. And all souls are immortal. What happens after life may well depend on how we approach death.
Multiple checks and balances in the process can protect the patient’s free will.
Currently exploring Medical Aide in Dying, in the state of Montana for a parent. It takes time and thoughtful consideration, and the patient has to self administer.
It is a comfort to have this as an option, even though most likely will not be used.
Like anything it can be abused, yet the benefits are so significant, working to minimize abuse is imperative.
I wrote about this issue in my novel Naked Singularity (which also explores the larger, attendant topic of human agency). When it's illegal for a terminally ill elderly person to commit suicide, this opens up that person and the family to predators who are willing to help, for a price. It's the end-of-life equivalent of illegal abortion clinics.
But one does not want the state or some other entity to decide whether or not someone lives or dies. It must be the patient and/or the family, with no pressure from anyone else. With all matters of moral complexity and uncertainty like this, I think each case must be examined individually. As Dr Baker says, hard cases make bad laws. Hard cases can't really be formalized and complex analysis is required for all complex cases.
With Canada now offering death to girls with anorexia, people with "depression", and all manner of health-care co$t saving conditions, it's easy to see that this is going down abortion alley. (Remember "Safe, Legal, and Rare"? Now you can order abortion pills online.)
"Medically-assisted" death also provides the salivating transplant teams with "fresh-meat" - another financial incentive to do harm, and to encourage any vulnerable person to just die already.
The spiritual component in this is immeasurable. To legalize physician assisted suicide damages both the patient and the doctor, and spreads a life-denying ethos throughout society. All life is precious. And all souls are immortal. What happens after life may well depend on how we approach death.
I sympathized with your thoughts. I've written about such problems here: https://posthumousstyle.substack.com/p/the-transhumanist-movement-and-state I also invite you to read or listen to my novel, so that you can see another perspective, not to change your mind, just keep it open to people whose experiences are different from yours. https://vnalexander.com/naked-singularity-2003/
I read your linked substack piece, and left a reply. Thanks for engaging!
Multiple checks and balances in the process can protect the patient’s free will.
Currently exploring Medical Aide in Dying, in the state of Montana for a parent. It takes time and thoughtful consideration, and the patient has to self administer.
It is a comfort to have this as an option, even though most likely will not be used.
Like anything it can be abused, yet the benefits are so significant, working to minimize abuse is imperative.
Best wishes to you navigating this difficult time. I hope you have lots of support from family and friends.
Mahalo nui loa