Choosing to live should not mean living with indignity in old age
|
Version 0 of 1. The story of Gill Pharoah, a healthy 75-year-old ex-nurse who decided to end her life at a Swiss Dignitas clinic, has made headlines this weekend. Despite an absence of disability or illness, Pharoah made the decision that getting old was not something she wanted to do. Many support her exercise of free will, others are worried that it sets a dangerous precedent in devaluing the lives of elderly people. Related: Think there's a cap on elderly care costs? Think again. You're in for a shock | Jackie Ashley This is, undoubtedly, quite a shocking story; for someone healthy and active to purposefully cut short their life goes against expectations. But just because many do not understand her decision (I confess that I am unsure), it is not up to us to decide whether someone lives or dies. I support assisted dying simply because I believe that everyone has the right to make that decision for themselves; disabled or not, suffering or not, doesn’t make a difference. Yet even with that firm belief, I do not think we should ignore the reasons that might lead a person to decide to end their life. While granting people the right to die, we should also be making the option to live as attractive as possible. And so we have to ask why Pharoah feared growing old to such an extent that she decided to end her life. In an interview she gave to the Sunday Times before her death, it is clear that her many years as a nurse for older people played a big part. “I just felt it was so bleak and so sad,” she said. “We all did what we could but, for many of those old people, there wasn’t a lot you could do. We do not look at the reality. Generally, it is awful.” Anyone who’s been inside a care home has probably thought something similar. Knowing the limits of the care system as well as she did, it is perhaps unsurprising that she wanted to avoid being stuck inside it. We are constantly bombarded with negative news from the care industry, from abuse to financial problems to the strain it places on families and the elderly themselves. In 2013 the charity Age UK warned that there had been a significant rise in reported instances of abuse, in people’s own homes and residential homes. Recently the government cancelled plans to cap an individual’s care liability at £72,000 over a lifetime, plans that would, in many cases, forestall the need for people to sell their homes in order to finance their care. Now, that necessity looms again. We have to ask why Pharoah feared growing old to such an extent that she decided to end her life The system conspires to deprive older people of their dignity, while at the same time making them feel like burdens to those they love. These prospects hardly encourage people to look forward to old age. We need a care system that treats people with kindness and respect, without gutting the savings they have made for their children’s future. People should not be punished for growing old; instead, we should help them to celebrate each passing milestone. Choosing to die should always be an option in a liberal society that honours people’s right to live as they wish. If someone does not want to be alive, it is perhaps one of the biggest cruelties to force them to carry on. Assisted dying should be legal. Yet we must ensure that the decision to die is not made because of a fear of the future that could be alleviated. We must ensure that choosing to live does not mean choosing to live with indignity. |