A liberal pro-choice case against assisted suicide…

Having a handicap can get you killed!  This is a message we hear from the folks in the disability rights movement.  They know that adequate medical care may not be forthcoming if you suffer from a severe, untreatable, life-threatening condition. 

They also provide a second warning.  Some people think that having a serious disability should make you want to die, and these folks may encourage you to do so—in ways subtle or not so subtle.  They may “pressure you ever so slightly but decidedly into being ‘reasonable,’ to unburdening others, to ‘letting go.’”  Even doctors “feel entitled to render judgments and voice their opinions.”

And in a sense, it is rational, given the dearth of alternatives. If nobody wants you at the party, why should you stay? Advocates of Death With Dignity laws who say that patients themselves should decide whether to live or die are fantasizing. Who chooses suicide in a vacuum? We are inexorably affected by our immediate environment. The deck is stacked. …

Perhaps, as advocates contend, you can’t understand why anyone would push for assisted-suicide legislation until you’ve seen a loved one suffer. But you also can’t truly conceive of the many subtle forces — invariably well meaning, kindhearted, even gentle, yet as persuasive as a tsunami — that emerge when your physical autonomy is hopelessly compromised.

This line of thinking cuts against the liberal pro-choice movement to adopt assisted-suicide laws.  Yet, the self-proclaimed pro-choice liberal Ben Mattlin opposes the Death with Dignity movement.  He explains why in a recent New York Times article, “Suicide by Choice?  Not So Fast.”

My problem, ultimately, is this: I’ve lived so close to death for so long that I know how thin and porous the border between coercion and free choice is, how easy it is for someone to inadvertently influence you to feel devalued and hopeless — to pressure you ever so slightly but decidedly into being “reasonable,” to unburdening others, to “letting go.” …

I was born with a congenital neuromuscular weakness called spinal muscular atrophy. I’ve never walked or stood or had much use of my hands. Roughly half the babies who exhibit symptoms as I did don’t live past age 2. Not only did I survive, but the progression of my disease slowed dramatically when I was about 6 years old, astounding doctors. Today, at nearly 50, I’m a husband, father, journalist and author. …  I am more than my diagnosis and my prognosis.

Ben Mattlin concludes on this note.

To be sure, there are noble intentions behind the “assisted death” proposals, but I can’t help wondering why we’re in such a hurry to ensure the right to die before we’ve done all we can to ensure that those of us with severe, untreatable, life-threatening conditions are given the same open-hearted welcome, the same open-minded respect and the same open-ended opportunities due everyone else.

Such a poignant assessment of disability rights cries out for extension to other life issues, such as abortion and the genetic screening of embryos to ensure that only the “healthy” are born.  Perhaps with time.…