Terry Pratchett - choosing to die

I caught Terry Pratchett's BBC2 documentary on assisted suicide by chance last night. Watching it was depressing and desperately sad. The focal point of the film involved the death of a 71 year old man with motor neurone disease. He had travelled with his wife to Dignitas - the Swiss euthanaisa clinic. He died after being given a cup of poison to drink by an attendant. The last words we heard were his breathless gasps for water.

The most alarming aspect of this film was the undignified death this poor man was subjected to. It took place on a grim industrial estate in Switzerland in stark contrast to the couple's lavish Guernsey home. Equally distressing was the unbearable position his wife was placed in. It was quite clear that she had absolutely no idea what to do. At one point as her husband lay dying on the couch she moved away from him, anxious that the TV cameras might implicate her in the process.

This was desperately hard to watch and the very opposite of what we would call "a good death". Rather than the comfort of prayer and the sacramental ministry of a priest, this poor couple were subjected to the cruel nihilism of Swiss clinicians. The couple's last conversation involved a meaningless debate over a box of chocolates. There was no acknowledgment of a life well lived, or any kind of hope for the future. I couldn't help wondering just what effect the presence of the cameras were having on them.

Assisted suicide is wrong. The moment a life can be dispensed with (whether through choice or not) is the moment that our society becomes less human. No wonder that those who fear this development are the most vulnerable - the elderly and the disabled. If it is acceptable to have the right to die, then the debate will very quickly move on to whether someone ought to die. This question will haunt the minds of vulnerable people, anxious not to burden their families or an ailing economy.

This programme was pure propaganda. There was no attempt to highlight the developments in palliative care which enable very sick people to die with dignity. It raised serious questions about the role of Dignitas. What was also alarming was the involvement of the BBC in the tragic plight of a vulnerable couple.