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News Day Tuesday: The Suicide Tourist
Posted by Girls By Design
May 12, 2009
Categories:  What's Crackin'
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Betty and George Coumbias  (photo: Point Grey Pictures)

Nothing in particular caught my attention this past week as something that y’all could discuss on the blog.  But luckily, Lindsey sent me this article a few weeks ago, and I thought now would be a good time to post it.

Many of you are familiar with euthanasia, also known as mercy killing or assisted-suicide.  It’s been the subject of much controversy in the States and in other parts of the world.  Does a person have the right to die of his or her own free will in order to end suffering from an incurable disease or illness?

But Betty and George Coumbias aren’t your typical euthanasia proponents.  Why?  Because Betty wants to die alongside her husband George when his time comes.  The thing is, although George suffers from severe heart disease, Betty doesn’t.  In fact, she’s a relatively healthy individual.  So the issue here isn’t simply the death of a sick person, but the death of a healthy one.

Betty and George were featured in the 2007 documentary The Suicide Tourist.  In the film, Betty explains why she would take her own life even though she is generally healthy:

From the day we got married, [my husband] was all my life.  I love my two daughters, but I love him more, and I don’t think I can face life without him, and since we read about Dignitas, we felt what would be better than to die together, you know, to die in each other’s arms?

Euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, and the Swiss euthanasia group Dignitas is currently seeking legal permission to help Betty get her wish.

Ludwig Minelli, director of Dignitas, argues that euthanasia should be an option for anyone who has the mental capacity to decide that he or she can no longer go on.  Dignitas actually encourages people to continue with life, and most people (about 70%) don’t go through with it even though they know euthanasia is an option.  But, he says, “We must be prepared to offer professionally supervised assisted suicide to those people whose problems cannot be solved, even after intense discussion with non-judgmental people free from any paternalism, whether medical, religious or governmental.”

On the other hand, ethics professor Margaret Somerville says that by allowing euthanasia of healthy individuals, ”We lose the gravitas of death.  Death is no longer put in a moral context.”

What do you think?

The article.

Thanks to Lindsey!

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G

May 12, 2009

Oh wow.


taylor nikole

May 12, 2009

i love them… but i love him more 0.o
goodness gracious
okay…


Kendra

May 12, 2009

Heavy….I need to put a lot of thought into this one!

Part of me feels like dieing is an amazing part of life, and can be a wonderful natural thing to experience even through pain.

Living your life can be just as painful and just as scary as it is to die.

I dont know…I mean….we are left to make our own decisions through out life…we try to make our decisions based on our individual value system…why can we not make this decision for our selves like any other? This seems like the most personal decision one could ever make…why does society say they should have a say in it or even make rule about it…blah! I dont know…geesh!


MarilyneL

May 12, 2009

There are too sides to this medal obviously, but the main that comes to my mind is that, if she can afford a “clean” and painless death, why not? if any way, she would use something else to commit suicide…however, I am convinced that there has to be a deep and serious conversation with the person because of the severity of the decision.


Bianca

May 12, 2009

I think she should do whatever she feels is right and better for her. If she believes that life without him is not worth living then she might as well go with him; otherwise it’ll just be torture for her to live. Dying is as much an emotional illness as it is a physical one. It’s a natural step we all have to take, she’s just going a lil’ sooner. IMO anyways


Hammad

May 13, 2009

First of all, I think it’s amazing that they found a love like that. Who wouldn’t want that? However, I do find it a little selfish if there are other loved ones still alive who do care about you. But, I also think it should be a personal decision, and the state shouldn’t really care or interfere. I don’t know, and this may sound cold, but I think governments that make this illegal tend to think in terms of the all-mighty dollar, i.e. one less taxpayer.

I find these type of loves really something special. Like the story about the man and his handicapped son who he participates in all sorts of athletic activities a video about which was posted her. Or the story of Dana Reeve, who I find just amazing. Standing by her husband for so many years, taking care of him, providing support in some of the most bleakest of circumstances. She really took the “in sickness and in health” moniker to its highest level of meaning. The reason I mention her, is life is short anyways, and even though she was quite healthy, she died soon after her husband’s death due to lung cancer even though she didn’t smoke at all and was by all accounts a healthy women just over 40 years old. I think God knows when its the right time based on the things we do.


Lindsey

May 13, 2009

I agree with Taylor…this quote:

“I love my two daughters, but I love him more”

really stood out and bothered me in the article. Euthanasia is such a controversial and divisive topic, but just the fact that she almost admits that her children’s feelings aren’t that important to her shocked me.


Emma

May 13, 2009

I fear that if euthanasia of healthy people becomes accepted because they don’t want to live without their loved ones, then where do we draw the line when people (e.g. families) want to basically go through mass suicide for each other?


ccb

May 14, 2009

i hope her people especially george have done everything to change her mind otherwise i suppose what we have is to respect her rights to decide how she wants to end her life no matter how difficult it is :\