Ludwig Minelli, the "human rights" lawyer who founded the Swiss suicide clinic, Dignitas, gave a rare interview to the BBC last week. In that interview, he vigorously defended Dignitas' recent assistance in killing a Canadian woman -- a woman who was completely healthy herself but who wished to die at the same time as her terminally ill husband. And yes, of course, Dignitas was overseeing that death too.Argued Minelli of suicide, "It’s a right, a human right, without condition except capacity of discernment...I say suicide is a marvelous possibility given to a human being." He later added: "Suicide is a very good possibility to escape a situation which you can’t alter."
So much for those old-fashioned virtues of courage, fortitude, spirituality, faith in God and the sanctity of life.
But Minelli was on a roll. Beyond suicide being a "marvelous possibility" to a human being, the lawyer pointed out that it can also be an economic boon. I mean, consider overpopulation...all those mouths eating up resources and all those feet making expensive carbon footprints.
Just think of the savings if more people would take advantage of the "marvelous possibility."
And then there's the costs of society taking care of all those amateurs who can't kill themselves properly. Says Minelli, "For 50 suicide attempts you have one suicide, and the others are failing with heavy costs on the National Health Service. If we would have another attitude to suicide, saying suicide is a very good possibility to escape, [then this wouldn’t be a problem]… In many, many cases, [people who attempt suicide] are terribly hurt afterwards; sometimes you have to put them in institutions for 50 years. Very costly."
Here's Kevin Yuill's take over at spiked.
