Right to die

I refer to Andrew Azzopardi's Talking Point of March 31 and agree that this very sad drama has been turned into a comedy - but nobody is laughing and I will explain why.

Although I readily admit that every person is entitled to an opinion, where I differ from Dr Azzopardi is when he stated that Terri Schiavo "should be supported and facilitated into living and not dying".

Please! Ms Schiavo was not living! She was just existing! Being in a persistent vegetative state for15 years is not living. In all honesty, who would want to "live" like that? What about a "quality" life? Of course Ms Schiavo had a right to live. No one is disputing that. But she also had a right to be allowed to die with dignity.

The Schiavo case is not the first of its kind.

In fact, a few days ago, Time magazine published the story of Ineke Stinissen. Back in 1974 this Dutch mother-to-be fell into a deep coma following problems with anaesthetic administered during her caesarean section. A year later her husband, seeing no hope of her regaining consciousness, asked that her feeding tube be removed. This request was turned down by Ms Stinissen's doctors on ethical grounds. An impassioned public debate followed. Fourteen years later a Dutch court ruled that tube feeding constitutes a medical treatment that can be withdrawn when there is no reasonable chance of recovery. After determining that Ms Stinissen was in a persistent vegetative state, the tube was removed and she died 11 days later.

Whereas in Europe there is a growing support for legal changes that would allow patients enduring extreme suffering from a terminal illness to ask for medical assistance to end their lives, in the US the Schiavo case was taken over by religion and faith-based politics.

Ms Schiavo is now dead. She is out of her misery and her family will need to get on with their own lives. They should be allowed to do so without more outside interference.

To Ms Schiavo I say "rest in peace".