Consider also the reasons given by Francis and Anne which are partly personal fears and partly about a false altruism. Not wanting to \u201d\u02dcwatch the slow decline of a partner\u2019; fear of going to a nursing home; \u201d\u02dctoo many people on this earth\u2019- making more pension money available for others; not wanting to \u201d\u02dcdig into our savings\u2019 and not being able to do the things they could at an earlier age. Add this to John Paul\u2019s clear point that he didn\u2019t want to look after them, and it\u2019s almost a \u201d\u02dcperfect storm\u2019 of lack of imagination, lack of a willingness to care and to look towards other alternatives.<\/p>\n
There is also an insidious cultural side to this affair evident in the reporting at Moustique. There is no alternate voice here; no suggestion that promoting this story might have a deleterious effect upon others. No help lines promoted, no questioning in any constructive way. The social question, as always, is about the cart and the horse \u201d\u201c is the media effectively pushing the issue or is it, as it may claim, simply reflecting the vox populi?<\/p>\n
This is not a \u201d\u02dccelebration of choice\u2019; far from it. It is a rationalization devoid of humanity and created, in the first instance by the legal possibility of euthanasia. It is then abetted by whatever it is in that family and that society that confirmed and supported the kind of dysfunction that allowed the children to confirm and assist instead of saying a clear, No, and offering every alternate support, no matter what the cost.<\/p>\n