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@RonanTKavanagh @DavidJuurlink 1/Beautiful care & story of medically-assisted death/suicide. I will share I haven't been able to embrace this response for 2 reasons. The first is an inchoate fear of a divide between protecting vs taking life. I can imagine situations where I would jump over that fear
@RonanTKavanagh @DavidJuurlink 2/Put me in a dire/extreme situation with no possible move I could make (perhaps a WW1 battlefield, no morphine, dying friend in total agony), and I would honor the request to help end his life as the last & only step available
@RonanTKavanagh @DavidJuurlink 3/My second reason for a difficulty with medically assisted death is contextual: is what effect results putting assisted death "on the table" in a US context where we have allowed that humane care, for palliation, pain etc. is robustly allocated by economic status and privilege
@RonanTKavanagh @DavidJuurlink 4/Because we've arranged US care in ways that limit humane options for palliation or treatment for persons lacking power, I worry that the strength of our fight to protect and help a patient could be affected by putting assisted death "on the table" of care options
@RonanTKavanagh @DavidJuurlink 5/Nothing in the story suggests the assisted dying was anything other than supportive/merciful. And it was Canada. There are challenges to the policy of broadening such care in settings where palliation & curative treatment are allocated by wealth or power, including my country
@RonanTKavanagh @DavidJuurlink 6/A nice back and forth here at @ConversationUS theconversation.com/viewpoints-sho…
