Like millions I grew up with Lynda Bellingham making the world's best gravy. I love my mum and wouldn't swap her for the world, but when I was a kid if I had to choose another mum it would have been Lynda Bellingham. Even away from the Oxo adverts she came over as a thoroughly good, decent human being. The world needs more of them, not less.
In 1970 I lost my grandad. He took his own life within weeks of my gran dying. For a long time I had extremely negative feelings for what he had put us all through so soon after overcoming the grief of my gran dying. A pain felt even more by my mum and her sister and brother.
After time I came to love and respect my granddad even more than I had when he was alive. As I matured I understood that pain and loss had driven him to do what he had done. He had the guts to do it and not expect anybody else to help him or to give their permission. He took the ultimate responsibility, that of choosing when to die.
By contrast I read today of 86 year old Jean Davies who took four weeks to starve herself to death. Even after giving up water as well as food it took her two weeks to die. It sounded slightly odd to me.
Lo and behold for many years Jean Davies had been a campaigner for 'assisted suicide'. So what terrible illness led to Jean Davies's suicide? She had a lot of ailments, was on a lot of tablets and had started to faint sometimes. In other words she was 'knocking on a bit'.
It seems that she was terrified of fainting in her garden, dying and putting her family through the trauma of finding her dead. So instead she chose to have her family witness her lingering, one month indignity of starving to death.
Well she certainly made me even more convinced that euthanasia is wrong and if legalised, would be every bit as abused as the abortion laws are. We now have abortion on demand. Legalise euthanasia and oldies will soon be put down to free up the spare room or the granny flat. Well I want neither abortion nor euthanasia in my name and will continue to campaign against both. It seems the liberal left only oppose the death of the guilty by campaigning constantly against capital punishment. But they are happy to slaughter the innocent be they young or old.
I think the world became slightly the poorer for losing Lynda Bellingham and Johnny Hardy. I hope I don't sound uncharitable, but I can't say the same about the death of Jean Davies.
4 comments:
I'm not familiar with either of these women, but these are issues that should not resonate with us all. In general I've been in favor of euthanasia/death with dignity, and I'd never thought that it might be abused by an elderly person's relatives. I wonder what protections are in place in those countries where euthanasia is legal?
I'll level with you Gregg - that does sound harsh, probably comes over worse than how you intended or meant it.
With abortion I think there's no nice compromise or middle ground unfortunately.
You either have something that resembles 'abortion on demand' or you force rape victims and vulnerable teenagers to give birth to kids they either can't love or can't provide for.
It's sad that abortion has become a lifestyle choice and a form of contraception for a tiny minority (I grew up with a woman who had FOUR of them on the NHS which is scandalous).
More should be done stop 'serial abortionists' from doing so and the taxpayer picking up the tab. Think we can agree on that.
Capital punishment will never be re-introduced over here and thank Christ for that.
You nail the key distinction on suicide and assistance. A person choosing to end his or her own life should be (and now is) free to do so without fear of reprisal if they screw it up.
Compelling someone to kill you is selfish and wrong.
Compelling someone to get a move on and die so the next of kin can sell the house and get their grubby little paws on the proceeds - well, that's just nauseating isn't it?
But that's what we're looking at.
Along with (and sorry if I hit a raw nerve as you're a Manc) another Harold Shipman having free rein to 'assist' old ladies to their death and magically appear in the will.
Sometimes the imperfect situation we have is best left alone.
No sympathy with her Daz. I think what she did was immoral and showed no regard for her family. My comments were very restrained.
Should clarify by 'grew up with' I was referring to a neighbour and not my bilogical mother. Worth making that distinction regardless of who gets sued!!
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