By Hilary White
August 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of Britain's most popular novelists, who recently revealed that he suffers from Alzheimer's disease, has weighed in on the side of legalising assisted suicide. Terry Pratchett, the author of one of the world's most popular series of science fiction/fantasy books, told the Daily Mail that he wants the “right” to kill himself, saying, “I live in hope I can jump before I am pushed.”
In an op-ed, Pratchett described those who had already travelled to Switzerland to kill themselves as “brave souls” and his own potential suicide as a heroic act. “I live in hope – hope that before the disease in my brain finally wipes it clean, I can jump before I am pushed and drag my evil Nemesis to its doom, like Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty locked in combat as they go over the waterfall.”
He said it is a “scandal” that people have to travel to commit suicide. “t should be possible to die with benign assistance here.”
In the wake of a decision last week by the House of Lords judicial committee, called the Law Lords, Pratchett said, “I believe that if the burden gets too great, those who wish should be allowed to be shown the door. In my case, in the fullness of time, I hope it will be in the garden under an English sky. Or, if wet, the library.”
The Law Lords ruled that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for England and Wales must issue “guidance” on when and in what circumstances the law on assisted suicide will be prosecuted. The case was brought by Debbie Purdy, a woman with multiple sclerosis who has campaigned for legal assisted suicide. Purdy has said she intends to commit suicide at the Dignitas facility in Switzerland and wants guarantees that her husband will not face prosecution if he assists her.
Currently, assisting suicide is a criminal offense in Britain punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but the public prosecutor's office has stated repeatedly that such cases will not be pursued. Euthanasia and assisted suicide campaigners looked upon the Law Lords decision as a step towards legalisation.
Pratchett said he did not believe legal assisted suicide would lead to involuntary euthanasia of helpless patients. “I have seen people profess to fear that the existence of a formalised approach to assisted dying could lead to it somehow becoming part of national health policy.”
“I very much doubt this could be the case. We are a democracy and no democratic government is going to get anywhere with a policy of even recommended euthanasia.
“If we were ever to end up with such a government, we would be in so much trouble that the problem would become the least of our worries. But neither do I believe in a duty to suffer the worst ravages of terminal illness.”
As of 2008, Pratchett had published 36 “Discworld” novels that satirise modern life using imagery from a wide range of literature from Shakespeare, to JRR Tolkien to A. A. Milne, Edgar Allen Poe and Jules Verne. He was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s and has sold more than 55 million books with translations made in 36 languages. The themes and characters of his books have been made into computer and internet games, role playing games and comic books and 14 Discworld novels have been adapted for the stage.
Many have noted that Pratchett's views on religion are nearly uniformly negative, with special venom aimed at Christianity. He describes himself as a humanist and is a “Distinguished Supporter” of the British Humanist Association, one of Britain's leading anti-Christian campaign groups.
In the novels, all set in the same imaginary world, the religion of Om is analogous to Christianity. The priesthood of Om is a clear parody of the Catholic Church whose clergy occupy themselves mainly with torturing non-believers. At the end of Pratchett's 13th novel, Small Gods, that has been described as a vicious attack on Catholicism, the hero ends the “Quisition” and reforms the church to be more open-minded and humanist in which followers make up their own theology and ethics.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Britain's Law Lords Rule in Favour of Assisted Suicide Seeker
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09073101.html