Andrew Denton’s Case For Euthanasia On ‘The Weekly’ Was Nearly Undeniable

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Published

February 24, 2016

Andrew Denton has once again, completely hit it out of the park with an incredible article about assisted dying, which is written in collaboration with his new podcast, ‘Better Off Dead’.

The 17-part podcast investigates into Australia’s current lack of laws helping elderly people’s choice to die, as well as looking at similar laws in other countries and whether they’re working.

In the piece, which is published by The Guardian, Denton speaks of a hypothetical (but very real) Granny, who is elderly and/or sick.

He explains that many anti-euthanasia groups try to make it seem like coercion (families forcing ‘Granny’ into convincing her doctors they want to die, because the family sees them as a burden or want inheritance, etc.) would become rife if it was made legal, and proceeds to explain why that’s a crock of shit.

“In Belgium and the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal for more than a decade, it isn’t happening. You won’t find credible evidence of vulnerable people being coerced to die in the official records. You won’t find streams of angry relatives demanding to know why granny was killed. You won’t find politicians pushing to change the laws because of reports of granny-killing.

And you won’t find the elderly in these countries complaining either. I know, because I asked them.”

He goes on to explain the process of assisted dying, in that two separate doctors must find the person’s state of suffering is ‘untreatable and unbearable’ way before it even goes to a euthanasia board committee. And if the person has been coerced, there’s simply no way that two separate doctors (who could go to jail if they are found to be negligent) would both approve the claim.

Denton is of the opinion that assisted living laws do not harm or murder people, but it empowers them with choice. Which sounds reasonable and fair, when you look at simple facts.

Denton also appeared on the first 2016 episode of Charlie Pickering‘s ‘The Weekly‘ tonight to speak about the issue and his podcast, to much applause:

Please welcome the incredible Andrew Denton to #TheWeekly pic.twitter.com/hux9y7c0zS

— The Weekly (@theweeklytv) February 24, 2016

What makes you qualified to talk about euthanasia?
Denton: I’m a prominent future dead person#theweekly pic.twitter.com/Vk6bn6Bk0I

— Tali Aualiitia (@taliaualiitia) February 24, 2016

So good to see #andrewdenton back – his intelligence and humour have been missed @ABCTV @theweeklytv

— Suzie Moloney (@suziemoloney) February 24, 2016

“Language is important”
“Fuck yeah”
YESSSS #theweekly

— Winston (@winnorulz) February 24, 2016

Simply put, when you look at the shockingly high rates of suicide in the elderly, legalising assisted dying makes sense. Many elderly people take their own life in awful, painful ways because they feel as though they have no other option:

“Every week, two Australians over the age of 80 take their lives. The most common method? Hanging.

It is these grannies who deserve protection from our politicians.
When are they going to act?”

If you’d like to read the full version of the excellent article, ‘The one argument stopping Australia from legalising assisted dying is implausible’ by Andrew Denton, you can here: theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/24/andrew-denton-the-one-argument-stopping-australia-from-legalising-assisted-dying-is-implausible

If you’d like to listen to available episodes of Denton’s podcast, ‘Better Off Dead’, you can here: wheelercentre.com/broadcasts/podcasts/better-off-dead

Source: The Guardian / The Weekly.