Opening the door for euthanasia will lead to far greater distress

So that I’m not accused of a lack of information, just to clarify – I suffer from fibromyalgia. I also suffer from depression. That is no easy combination to live with. As for fibromyalgia, when it comes to pain relief, very little works, if at all. And what does, as I found out, doesn’t work for all suffers. I believe I can safely say that I have experienced acute pain, not just physically, but also mentally. And mentally can be just as crippling, some would say worse. It is why mental cruelty is now more often used, then that of physical torture.

I must apologise for not qualifying everything that I said in my original letter, but I wish I could say that it was simply, pie in the sky, sadly it isn’t. I would say that what was said in relation to what I’d actually written, was grossly exaggerated. Droves is hardly what I said.

We now have, if not the strongest, pro-abortion laws in the world – we’re very close. So I wouldn’t be so certain that it won’t also happen when it comes to euthanasia. You only have to look at Canada to see the trend, the rising numbers of assisted deaths.

At the end of the day, should euthanasia be legalised, then for whatever reason, that is your decision. But, will that decision always, remain in your hands? Yet it still remains illegal to commit suicide.

The problem really begins when the safeguards are removed and the net is extended to cover a greater area of society, including issues with living conditions. More will eventually meet the criteria for euthanasia. Which in turn will inevitably lead to a higher percentage of assisted deaths in relation to natural deaths. This has already proven to be the case to varying degrees among the countries which already have laws allowing euthanasia.

It has now become apparent, at least in Canada, that some doctors are now actively encouraging patients to consider euthanasia, even for non-terminal illnesses. In the Netherlands, a rather small country, five per cent of deaths are assisted.

As for me personally, reconsidering my position should I find myself in sure acute pain, I don’t believe that is likely. Why?Because I have learnt from past experience that it is better to wait on God than for you to decide for yourself. As I mentioned earlier, I also suffer from depression.

I don’t enjoy living in pain, but I have had little choice over the past 51 years. What I have found ever harder to live with, especially more recently, is the state of the world. It isn’t just euthanasia, it isn’t just the current threat of another world war. It is also in part, the outright attack on society by a small minority of extremists, who are determined to force their ideology on the world.

And then you have some churches who now no longer hold to the word of God. Instead they look to please everyone, but God. What hope does that leave for future generations? Very little. Whatever we suffer now, is nothing compared with that which is yet to come. I am against euthanasia, on so many levels. I also know for a fact, that I’m by no means, alone. And yet, so many remain silent, because they are afraid of the possible consequences.

Why? Because freedom of speech is also under increasing attack. The world is getting smaller and outside influence is making a mockery of the law. Where wrong has become right and right is now wrong. Opening the door for euthanasia, as it did with abortion, will open the flood gates. And the saddest part of all, is that for many, it won’t result in the release of their pain. Instead it will usher in far greater. Then, not all believe as I do; in God.

JOHN DE CARTERET

17 Delancey Court

Rue Des Monts

St Sampson’s