How British author Terry Pratchett campaigned for euthanasia
NEWDELHI: Contrary to all the books that he wrote in his lifetime, this is one work by Sir Terry Pratchett that is not easy to consume.
In 2011, three years after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Pratchett then 62, made a documentary called Choosing to Die.
In it, he argued that the decision of when to die should be an inalienable right of the individual. In England, euthanasia is illegal and assisted death is deemed manslaughter or murder, with the maximum penalty being life imprisonment.
At the start of the documentary, produced by BBC 2 and available for viewing online, Pratchett says, “Sometimes, when I’m particularly depressed, I dread what the future may hold.
“And it occurred to me that in these modern times, one shouldn’t have to fear that sort of thing.”
Pratchett goes on a journey to meet other people in England with life-threatening conditions—multiple sclerosis and motor neuron disease—who are considering assisted death.
With his assistant, Rob Wilkins, he makes a visit to Swiss euthanasia group, Dignitas, where people given a poison that they must administer to themselves.
“I’d like to enjoy life for as long as I can squeeze the juice out of it, and then I can die, but I’m not quite sure how, or when,” he says at one point.
It was the nature of his condition that left Pratchett confounded—if he must choose to end his life, at what point should he do so? In an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s, when he is not of sound mind, Dignitas would not assist him, because their mandate is to only work with those persons who are actively making the choice to end their lives.
Pratchett, the author of the immensely popular Discworld series of fantasy novels, went on to live for a few more years after making the documentary, all the while campaigning for assisted death. He passed away in 2015. He died a natural death and did not take his own life.