'Til Death

Fascinating case emanating from Europe in the past couple of days about an elderly and eminent British couple who chose to commit simultaneous suicide with the help of a Swiss clinic. Conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died hand-in-hand last week after knocking back a lethal drug cocktail, a move that's as sure to make ethicists wring their hands as it is to make romantics swoon.

Assisted suicide is one of those issues that's much easier to argue about in the abstract than in the specific. It's understandable that many people would defend this decision by two apparently rational adults, a decision that was supported by their children. After all, what benefit would there be to charging the children, already grieving, with a criminal offense for helping the Downeses meet their chosen fate? 

Yet it's also easy to understand why the couple's death would make people squirm. Joan Downes was reportedly in the final stages of terminal cancer, but aside from being described by his kids as "blind and nearly deaf," Edward Downes was only on his deathbed because he chose to be. Thus, the usual slippery-slope arguments are activated. What, for example, is the standard a person must meet in order to receive assistance in ending one's own life? Should people have access to assisted suicide because they're afraid to grieve for a loved one? Is this option available only for the elderly? If the option was available, how many people would use it to escape what might be temporary physical and mental pain.

I can't fault the Downeses for what they did. But I'm not sure I'm comfortable with assisted suicide if the rationale behind it is to achieve some romantic ideal or avoid grief. Coming to terms with death is a sad but necessary part of life. Even at 85, Edward Downes might very well have gained wisdom and character from the process of mourning his wife. Or it may have tortured him. 

That's the thing about death. Once it happens, all those questions go forever unanswered. My take is that public policy concerning assisted suicide should err on the side of exploring the possibilities and answering those questions.

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