Terminally-ill woman wants right to die peacefully
Ningxia Hui, China
“I love life. But I don’t want to go on living.”
So writes 28-year-old Li Yan in her blog, which calls for the legalisation
of euthanasia.
Li, from Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has been
suffering from terminal cancer since she was just a year old. She has lost
the use of her limbs and can move only her head and fingers.
In her blog, Li calls on the NPC (The National People’s Congress) to
consider drafting a proposal on “peaceful dying”, or euthanasia, to look
at the benefits of legal suicide.
Her request became a media sensation after popular CCTV investigative news
anchor Chai Jing presented it at an NPC meeting.
Talking about her life, Li says she has been cared for by her mother, Song
Fengying, 63, for the past 27 years.
“My mom feeds me three meals a day, carries me to the toilet and helps me
roll over a dozen times every night,” she says.
“I might live to be 40 years old, and I am terrified of dying unattended.”
Li says she wants to die before her parents.
“Or I will live in misery because I will become dirty, smelly and very
uncomfortable. I don’t want to die that way,” she says.
Li says people have right to live, but should also have the option to die.
In 2003, she attempted suicide by stopping eating.
But her mother’s tears made her change her mind.
Since then, Li has been seeking doctor-assisted suicide, so that she might
die with respect and serenity. She says her parents have given their
approval for her to do so.
“I want to die peacefully and donate my organs to medical research,” she
says.
Li’s case has sparked a nationwide debate over “peaceful death” and
euthanasia, raising important questions about hopelessly sick and ill
people across the country.
