It is yet another example of our society stumbling, without any firm reference points, into the further commodification of human life. That this legislation, if passed, will just be a first step to the eventual widespread practise of euthanasia in our society should not be in doubt.
When the legalisation of abortion was argued for in the 1960s, we were assured that it would be a last resort reserved for only the most desperate cases, it would have to meet rigorous medical and/or psychological criteria, and it would be scrupulously regulated. Of course, we now know, 40 years on, that abortion is carried out effectively 'on demand', with few (if any) questions asked and on a scale beyond anything its original proponents would have imagined. The government's response to this 'industrialisation' of abortion (6.7 million since 1967). has not been to tighten up the controls or to seek to return to the original narrow criteria but to make it even easier and less regulated. For those assuring us that 'assisted suicide' would be rare and strictly controlled - the example of Belgium in extending its legalised euthanasia for children is a chilling glimpse into the future.
Once the taking of life, at the point it is perceived to be lacking sufficient quality or that it has become an unfair burden on others, becomes acceptable and legal - the insidious pressure will be that those persisting in similar circumstances are being a little selfish. After all look how much freer, happier and wealthier Family X is now that Granny is no longer 'tying them down' and draining them of their resources. Thus very subtly poor struggling incontinent Grandad in Family Y may start to feel a bit of a 'parasite'.
Almost inevitably legalising assisted suicide will shift the burden of responsibility for the care of the disabled and sick away from 'the well' and onto the sufferer themselves. After all if a sufferer rejects the now available option of ending their life - then why should their family or anyone else feel any responsibility to care for them? After all it's their choice if they choose to carry on living!
The problem with any form of suicide is that is involves the weak and vulnerable valuing their lives against the powerful and secure. The great darkness of legalising 'assisted suicide' is not simply that it allows people to be accessories in the taking of human life - but that it says that human life is 'takable'.
It is telling for all our society's hubris about progress and moral enlightenment that we seem to be regressing into a pre-Christian Dark Age when it comes to human life. Abortion on demand, embryo selection on the basis of gender and other physical characteristics, and now the pro-active termination of adult life on health grounds are all now 'on the table'.
How did we get here? We live in a time when advances in medicine and technology mean the ability to alleviate suffering and provide palliative care have never been greater (in the West anyway - interestingly the 'right to die' does not seem to be a big demand in the developing world). Tragically though we have the tools to help - a century of aggressive materialistic atheism has left us with decreasing reason to use them. If we are just haphazard conglomerations of chemicals with no ultimate purpose or value - then there is no reason to view human life as anything other than disposable and utilitarian. The squeezing out of the 'Life Giver' from public consciousness is leading our culture deeper into an ever deepening amoral 'survival of the fittest' view of ourselves.
As Dostoevsky put it, "If God does not exist, everything is permitted."
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