Dr David Hunter1
1University Of Adelaide, Bellevue Heights, Australia
Abstract:
To be clear this paper is not intended to argue against the availability of assisted dying – anything but – I think that assisted dying ought to be available and is a right that ought to be supported insofar as possible and compatible with ensuring that choosers are competent. I have held off on writing this until assisted dying was made available – both where I now live and also where these events that I will describe occurred (New Zealand). However I want to talk here about one of the costs of assisted dying – namely the impacts on those left behind by those who choose to die – and suggest some ways to mitigate those costs. To do so I will tell a brief story of my own past and involvement with assisted dying, and the psychological costs of that involvement for myself. I’ll then suggest some ways that we ought to aim to mitigate those costs for others.