Dear Editor:
Re: Killing another is murder, Letters to the editor, Burnaby NOW, Feb. 7.
Mr. Di Cesare raises good points. However, at the end of his letter he states that if necessary he would handle his own suicide.
"I believe that if I want to end my life I could do so in many ways, and I could do so in a peaceful way without putting that kind of responsibility/onus on anyone's shoulders."
That's fair enough, but if it's OK for him to do it unaided, then surely those who can't perform their own must be allowed to ask for help. I was writing of people who physically cannot take their own lives. Several have been in the news in the last couple of years. I should have been more specific.
I was making one point and one alone: doctors have the job of keeping us alive. For that reason, they should not be involved in euthanasia. It goes against the basic job description.
The same goes for the other caregiving professions, but for some reason the debate is always phrased as "doctor-assisted suicide." I am wondering why this is always loaded on the doctors?
His other questions lead us to the next steps of the debate, but the first thing is to decide if it is to be legal. Then we can decide who will actually do the job.
Albert Melenius, Burnaby
