Do you want to leave after 90 years? Interesting argument
developing in the UK (See report below.) This has also
been a debate in the Netherlands.
……..
On April 16 Michael Irwin gave a talk at the Cornerstone Centre, in Brighton and Hove, a city on the south coast of the UK, on – ‘When is a Life Complete?’
Much of his talk expanded on this definition of a ‘Completed Life’ (which had been drafted by several members of My Death My Decision, a right-to-die campaigning organization in the UK, formerly known as the Society for Old Age Rational Suicide, in 2016) – ‘Elderly, mentally competent individuals may consider that their lives are complete when they have a chronic health problem (or a combination of more than one
condition) which is causing them increasingly unbearable, irreversible suffering, with the additional loss of independence, purpose and meaning in their lives, so that they would now prefer to die rather than stay alive, especially as they dread what the future will soon bring.’
During the discussion which followed this talk, there was general agreement that the great majority in the UK today who get to the age of ninety, will have reached the stage of a ‘Completed Life’.
This led to further discussion about competent individuals, from ninety onwards, who want to be in control of their lives, possibly considering the option of a doctor-assisted suicide – presently, illegal in the UK, but available in Switzerland (assuming that most people, from ninety onwards, have at least one serious medical condition causing them unbearable suffering).
Since April 16 there has been considerable interest in wanting to consider the issues raised in more detail – therefore, a new right-to-die group is being established, in the UK, which will be known as NINETY PLUS.
In recent years, several national opinion polls, in the UK, have shown public support – between 66% and 70% – for old age rational suicide.
At the present time, the co-ordinator of NINETY PLUS will be Michael Irwin – who is a former Chairman of the (UK) Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now called Dignity in Dying) and a former President of the World Federation of Right-to-Die Societies. He has a very personal interest in this new Group as he will be 90 himself in 2021.
If further information is required, Michael can be contacted at michaelirwin1931@talktalk.net
