Of course there are many ethical issues surrounding assisted suicide. But since he was a high government official, might this push the debate forward? Would you do what he did if you and your spouse or partner were in a similar situation:
I'm just going to point out, this would have been something out of Brave New World, or maybe Soylent Green, just a couple decades ago. A fiction about a dystopian future world where suicide has become the normalized way out in society for an individual's trivial life problems. From another article, it sounds like he had previously suffered a somewhat debilitating stroke 4 years earlier, and she was not in the best of health. The article says there were 29 couples who decided to undergo euthanasia together in the Netherlands in 2022.
I wonder how many more people in society would choose suicide if suicide booths were installed on every corner, and messages were disseminated in society that it was a perfectly normal ordinary choice. The "Suicide Hotline" might take on a very different meaning, with a counselor over the phone telling a distressed and imminently suicidal person about their "options". (I hope you can detect the sarcastic tone in my post) Instead of regular abortions, Planned Parenthood could start offering a special "two for one" deal, for teen mothers who don't know what to do, or where to turn.
I respect their choice, but three of the big reasons for end of life suicide are hopelessness (seeing the future as continued deterioration), not wanting to be a burden (on family, society) and poor symptom control. All could be addressed and made more positive.
If you don't suffer a medical event which kills quickly, like a severe stroke or heart attack, the alternative seems to be dying of dehydration or starvation over days to weeks under heavy sedation. At least that's what the hospice handouts say.
