In Search of Good Arguments Against Edward Downes' Right to Die

Nina, I too was touched by the quiet, unassuming dignity of Edward Downes’ choice to die clutching the hand of his sick wife. It seems to matter very much to critics whether Downes himself were ill or not, which is interesting given the universal prognosis for 85-year-old men (and, indeed, all of us.) Is there really a significant ethical difference between his choice and that of his cancer-stricken wife? Maybe these are the kind of arbitrary distinctions that make a once-taboo process suddenly conceivable for a liberal, advanced society.

I find the most thoughtful objections to legalized euthanasia to be those that deal with the issues of obligation. There is the suggestion that women are culturally conditioned to avoid being burdensome, and few people are more burdensome than bedridden, terminally ill elderly parents and grandparents. Women might feel disproportionately obligated to end their lives. So too one could imagine the Downes’ decision becoming culturally obligatory for elderly couples; the measure of a loving relationship might be the choice to end it together.

These are the kinds of questions that crop up whenever a situation shifts from the realm of inevitability to that of responsibility. (What would happen if we allowed women to terminate their pregnancies? Adults to divorce? Daughters to live away from home?) And the easy way out—the refusal to wrangle with them by removing death from the process of decision-making—comes at the price of terrible suffering.

Photograph of a hearing on euthanasia in the European Union by Frank Fife/AFP/Getty Images.

Tags: assisted suicide, edward downes

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Kerry Howley is a contributing editor at Reason Magazine and an Arts Fellow at the University of Iowa's literary nonfiction program.

Comments

I don't know, writestuff, why

By: Sihaya | Fri, 07/17/2009 - 13:44

I don't know, writestuff, why do you feel that way? It wasn't brought up, I see no indicators that fertility is some sort of unspoken undercurrent to this discussion, and, to be honest, it's a *very* rare 85-year-old man who still has any fertile years left. The idea wasn't brought up, and it wouldn't hold water if it was.

Conditioning

By: thewritestuff | Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:00

Why do I feel like the indignation of some to Edward's decision is that he could still, at least in theory, sire children, while his wife couldn't? Is that what's making her choice more palatable than his? That she's almost a double burden (terminally ill and infertile) while he may have had a few more years in him?

Maybe I'm way off base here, but there's a great deal more sexism in this story than I think has been realized. A suicide is a suicide, no matter age, race, sex or any other category we like to force upon someone. Can't we just appreciate that (in my own, hopelessly romantic, interpretation) Edward felt that a life without his wife wasn't a life at all?

Old and sick? I know alot of those, and most want to live.

By: Sihaya | Wed, 07/15/2009 - 13:15

These articles drive me crazy. My 90-year-old grandpa is blind and went through chemo last year. He almost didn't get treatment, as his first doc wasn't offering it based solely on his age - told him to go home and enjoy his family at the beach for six months. If you ask my grandpa in a gentle voice about his "quality of life," he'll be too polite to spit in your eye. He's unfortunately heard the question often enough that he has a set of stock answers. He says that he's had a long life and a lot of good years, so he'd like to continue with a few more.

These questions lately about whether or not we're extending people's lives while forgoing the quality scare me; no one's twenty-one forever, but I think some people want to end it as soon as the illusion's gone. Scratch that - some people want to emotionally or socially pressure others to end it as soon as the illusion's gone. Downes lost his wife to cancer. He should, frankly, be depressed for quite a while. So should a young person going through the same thing. If treated well, he might have gotten better. Guess we'll never know. His son seems to think that treating that depression was somehow condescending. And he's the one with informed experience that none of us have. But I worry. If my spouse passes before I, I may not want to live, either. But I want those who love me to *help* me want to live. Yeah, it takes work. It does happen, even in old age.

And who's stopping them?

By: Vanessa | Wed, 07/15/2009 - 12:59

The thing about suicide is, there's no possible punishment if one decides to follow through on it. This suggests to me that there would have to be a great deal of social good on the side of making assisted suicide legal, since unassisted suicide is practically speaking impossible to outlaw.

In the case of a terminally ill person who cannot physically bring a suicide about on their own I can see the case in favor. But in any other situation it's not for those against it to give a reason not to make it legal by for those who are for it to give such a compelling reason for legalization as to make all the fears over coercion and obligation unimportant.

Obligation

By: P Starling | Wed, 07/15/2009 - 12:36

I too thought of the tradition of sati. We don't have the same culture of obligation to spouses in America, but we do have a culture in which parents are expected to be willing to do anything for their children. And I can't be the only person who's seen well-off adults criticize their elderly parents' spending habits or financial decisions because it will mean less of an inheritance.

So what happens if euthanasia is legalized and becomes common for elderly people? Will Grandma feel obligated to choose death instead of expensive nursing home care? Will children argue that their Alzheimer's-afflicted parents "would have hated to live like this" and therefore should be compassionately put down rather than forced to undergo years of expensive treatments? If patients can't get Medicare help until they've exhausted their estates, will they feel obligated to choose suicide and leave money for the surviving spouse, even if they would want to live if they could do so without pushing their spouses into poverty?

I bet there are lots of people who really would prefer to die than live decades with Alzheimer's, or suffer a painful disease. But I also think that exploitation and undue pressure on the elderly would increase significantly, since there's a lot of money at stake. (This is a great argument for health-care reform.) Until we have a functional apparatus for dealing with elder neglect and abuse, let's hold off on adding pressures to the system. The Downes have shown us that there are ways to die with dignity for those who chose to do so to.

Obligation

By: Nina Rastogi | Wed, 07/15/2009 - 11:42

You're right, Kerry; the potential for coercion is a huge factor in this discussion--see, for example, the old practice of sati in India.