Death with dignity, but "Caractacus and Boudicca"?

[FBM]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090714/ap_ ... bit_downes
Hand-in-hand British musician, wife commit suicide

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jul 14, 5:03 pm ET
LONDON – He spent his life conducting world-renowned orchestras, but was almost blind and growing deaf — the music he loved increasingly out of reach. His wife of 54 years had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So Edward and Joan Downes decided to die together.

Downes — Sir Edward since he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 — and his wife ended their lives last week at a Zurich clinic run by the assisted suicide group Dignitas. They drank a small amount of clear liquid and died hand-in-hand, their two adult children by their side. He was 85 and she was 74.

The deaths were a poignant coda to Edward Downes' illustrious musical career, and have reignited a debate in Britain about whether people should be able to help ailing loved ones end their lives.

The couple's children said Tuesday that they died "peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing" on Friday.

"After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems," said a statement from the couple's son and daughter, Caractacus and Boudicca.

"They wanted to be next to each other when they died," Caractacus Downes told London's Evening Standard newspaper. "They held hands across the beds.

"It is a very civilized way to be able to end your life," he added.

Downes' manager Jonathan Groves said the couple were inseparable and would have reached the decision together.

"Sir Edward would have survived her death, but he decided he didn't want to. He didn't want to go on living without her," Groves said.

One of Britain's most renowned conductors, Downes had a long and eminent career, which included years as head of the BBC Philharmonic and a five-decade association with the Royal Opera House.

In recent years he had become almost blind and nearly deaf, increasingly relying on his wife for support.

Joan, a former ballet dancer, choreographer and television producer, had devoted years to working as his assistant, but she was recently diagnosed with cancer of the liver and pancreas, and given only weeks to live.

Groves said he was shocked by the couple's deaths but called their decision "typically brave and courageous."

The double suicide is the latest in a series of high-profile cases that have spurred calls for a legal change in Britain, where assisted suicide and euthanasia are banned.

Under British law, assisting a suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. But courts have become reluctant in recent years to convict people. No relative or friend of any of the Britons who have died in Dignitas clinics has been prosecuted.

The Metropolitan Police force said it had been notified of the deaths, and was investigating. Charges are unlikely.

Despite evidence of changing attitudes, parliamentary efforts to change the rules have all been defeated — most recently last week, when Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, voted down an amendment that would have relaxed the prohibition on assisted dying.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of campaign group Dignity in Dying, said the couple's deaths showed the need to regulate assisted suicide.

"This problem is clearly not going to go away," she said.

"People should be able to make such decisions for themselves, but safeguards are the key," she said.


Peter Saunders, of the anti-euthanasia group Care Not Killing, argued that loosening the law could "put vulnerable people, many of whom already think they are a financial or emotional burden to relatives, carers and the state, under pressure to end their lives through a change in the law."

More than 100 Britons have died in Swiss clinics run by Dignitas since the organization was established in 1998. The organization takes advantage of the country's liberal laws on assisted suicide, which suggest that a person can be prosecuted only if they are acting out of self interest.

Roughly 100 foreigners — most of them terminally ill — come to Switzerland each year to end their lives. Some are healthy except for a disability or severe mental disorder. Typically they go to a room run by Dignitas, which provides them with a lethal drink of barbiturates. In five minutes they fall asleep — and never wake up.

Other countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, and the states of Oregon and Washington in the United States, allow the incurably sick to obtain help from a doctor to hasten their death.

Only Switzerland, in a law dating back to 1942, permits foreigners to come and kill themselves. Other organizations provide such services for Swiss residents, but Dignitas is the main organization for foreigners.

Critics accuse Dignitas of promoting "suicide tourism."

Dignitas charges 10,000 Swiss francs ($9,200) for its services, which include taking care of legal formalities and arranging consultations with a doctor willing to prescribe the barbiturates.

Edward Downes is one of the most prominent Britons to have traveled to Switzerland because of its open attitude toward the practice.

He was born in 1924 in Birmingham in central England. He studied at Birmingham University, the Royal College of Music and under German conductor Hermann Scherchen.

In 1952, he joined London's Royal Opera House as a junior staffer — his first job was prompting soprano Maria Callas. He made his debut as a conductor with the company the following year and went on to become associate music director. Throughout his life he retained close ties to the Royal Opera, conducting almost 1,000 performances of 49 different operas there over more than 50 years.

He also had a decades-long association with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, where he became principal conductor and later conductor emeritus. In the 1970s, he became music director of the Australian Opera, conducting the first performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House in 1973.

Edward and Joan Downes are survived by their children and grandchildren. The family said the couple had no religious beliefs, and there would be no funeral.

________

Associated Press Writers Ernst E. Abegg and Alexander G. Higgins contributed to this report from Switzerland.

[Chinaski]

As everyone has the right to life, so do they have the right to die.

As for the conductor and his wife, a very touching story.

[FBM]

As everyone has the right to life, so do they have the right to die.

As for the conductor and his wife, a very touching story.

Wholeheartedly agreed.


But it should be illegal to name your kids "Caractacus" and "Boudicca" unless they live in a country where they won't be teased mercilessly about it. They will only experience dignity (or at least, relief) upon death. Imagine if your real name were "FrigidSymphony".

ref: Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii.

[Clinton Huxley]

Their namesakes stuck it to the Romans good and proper. I approve!

[FBM]

Their namesakes stuck it to the Romans good and proper. I approve!

[Animavore]

Quitters if you ask me :coffe:

[redunderthebed]

As everyone has the right to life, so do they have the right to die.

As for the conductor and his wife, a very touching story.

I agree very touching story.

If it wasn't for these christian groups and the alike he wouldn't have to do "suicide tourism" the twats.

[Trolldor]

As everyone has the right to life, so do they have the right to die.

As for the conductor and his wife, a very touching story.

I agree very touching story.

If it wasn't for these christian groups and the alike he wouldn't have to do "suicide tourism" the twats.

It's not just religious groups. There are secular groups with equally unfounded propoganda.

[maiforpeace]

Really touching story. I would be happy if I could die with as much dignity as these two people.

Yes, it's really sad how our christian culture wants to deprive people of yet another, what I consider to be an inalienable right - the right to die with dignity. I have gone over my Health Care Directive with a fine toothed comb to ensure I am allowed only "comfort care" when I get ready to die, as well as being where I want to be. In the US, if you don't do that adequately they will perform all kinds of horrible cure care heroics on a dying person to make a buck.

And then, of course we have idiots like Palin going on about the death panels. The irony behind all of that is those people all protesting Obama's plan are the one's with health care and don't have to worry, while those with no health care wait patiently for a new day and better day when we might actually become a more humane nation and provide everyone with Health Care.

[charlou]

I think that is a very understandable and poignant decision. Very strong children they have, too.


A right to die refuse medical treatment case was recently won in Perth, Australia ...

Perth quadriplegic wins landmark right to die

Posted Fri Aug 14, 2009 3:05pm AEST

Christian Rossiter told the court he was living in a private hell. (ABC News : Jake Sturmer )

A landmark decision in Western Australia's Supreme Court has given a Perth quadriplegic the right to refuse food from his care provider.

Christian Rossiter, 49, was given the approval on the condition he understands the consequences of his actions.

Mr Rossiter, who developed spastic quadriplegia after being hit by a car, says he is relieved by the court's decision.

"It's comforting to know that when you say you're going to starve yourself to death no-one's going to come along in the night when you've lost consciousness and keep you alive to suffer a bit longer," he said.

Mr Rossiter is fed via a tube in his stomach and his care provider, the Brightwater Nursing Home, had asked the court whether it could legally stop feeding him.

In submissions to the court, Mr Rossiter's lawyer John Hammond said there was no lawful basis upon which Brightwater could ignore such a request.

'Victory for common sense'

Euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke says he is thrilled with the Supreme Court's decision.

"It's a very important decision and it's such a victory for common sense," he said.

"The idea that they would have come back with some direction that his wishes would not be complied with is just too awful to think about."

Dr Nitschke says it is reassuring for everyone involved.

"It's been made clear he can take it at any time and he can revoke it at any time," he said.

"I've been talking to him today and he was still at that stage asking questions about other options which he sees as being somewhat more appealing, such as going to Switzerland.

"He's been concerned about some problems there but I guess over the next course of time we will be getting some more evidence and information to him about that choice."

'Living hell'

Before his accident, Mr Rossiter was a keen bushwalker, rock climber and cyclist.

He recently described his life as a "living hell".

"I'm Christian Rossiter and I'd like to die. I am a prisoner in my own body. I can't move. I can't even wipe the tears from my eyes," he said

"I have no fear of death - just pain. I only fear pain."

Today's ruling is likely to spark debate on the broader issue of euthanasia.

Last week, Dr Scott Blackwell from Palliative Care WA Inc warned people not to confuse Mr Rossiter's case with euthanasia.

Dr Blackwell says the case is not about murder laws, but about the right of the state's residents to refuse treatment.

"All Western Australians with legal decision-making capacity have the right to refuse medical treatment ... courts in Australia and overseas have long considered artificial feeding - for example by a PEG tube - a medical treatment," he said.

(My bolding) I wonder if, when this man has been starving for some time, and he possibly becomes mentally disoriented or incapacitated in some way due to lack of nutrition, whether there'll be further debate about force feeding him due to his inability to continue to maintain his decision legally ...

[Trolldor]

If he made the decision to refuse medical treatment when considered able to rationally decide for himself, then even when he's delirious the order will stand.

[Animavore]

I'm gonna kill myself when I'm older