We are very tolerant of life, but we have always been very taboo about death. You may be surprised, but while some people are trying to live, there are also people who are begging to be able to die. They hope to end the pain with death, to die with dignity, and to leave quietly in the company of their loved ones. On February 24, the family of the famous Taiwanese sports host Fu Daren released the last picture of his euthanasia in Switzerland in June last year, which made everyone feel sad. In the video, in the face of impending death, Fu Daren remains decent, even funny. He followed the doctor's instructions and slowly drank four sips of the medicine. Each sip made his family's heart feel like a knife, but the family members on the side still comforted him with tears: "Drink it and there will be no pain", "really brave".
The son on the side burst into tears: "Dad, we love you", "Okay, it doesn't hurt anymore."
After two hours of "long" farewell, Fu Daren quietly ended his life and fell asleep slowly in his son's arms at the age of 85.
When Fu Daren was 84 years old, he was repeatedly tormented by illness and repeatedly asked to go to Switzerland to perform euthanasia. His family discouraged him many times, and he tried his best to "change his mind". Fu Daren told his family that even if he was actively treated, he would only have a 50% chance of survival, and even if he survived, he would have to lie in bed and lose his freedom. Happily and dignifiedly walk the last leg.
In November 2017, Fu Daren went to the Swiss euthanasia institution with his family, but he finally gave up because his family was reluctant and returned home. After that, his condition deteriorated sharply, and the former athlete lost only 49 kilograms. In June 2018, the family accompanied Fu Daren to Switzerland again, and finally completed the "euthanasia". As the son of a close relative, Fu Junhao described his feelings as: "At that moment, it was very calm , as calm as my father was just asleep, and no one realized that he really left, and it was also at this moment that we really felt relieved and felt that this It's the best way for a father.
Once we did not understand him, once we thought he was selfish, once we hoped that he could accompany us, but the pain of father is really not something we can understand, our love for father is to respect his wishes, we accompany him. With him, our whole family was there when he left, and my father knew we loved him, and I think that was enough. "
For some people, it is easy to live, but too difficult to die. Due to the huge controversy, only countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland have legalized euthanasia. In the United States and Canada, only a few states allow euthanasia.
In the United States, a doctor named Jack Kevorkian was charged with first-degree murder for promoting "euthanasia". From 1990 to 1998, Jack Kevorkian assisted 130 patients to commit suicide. During this period, he escaped from prison four times, including three acquittals and one invalid trial. But in November 1998, he was charged with first-degree murder and eventually sent to prison over a "death tape". This "death video" records the whole process of a patient being euthanized. Jack personally gave it to CBS and asked to be broadcast on CBS's most authoritative news program "60 Minutes" .
After the film was played, it caused an uproar, and Jack Kevorkian was called "Death Doctor" . In his opinion, "death" is also an inviolable right of everyone. He only assisted others, and he never thought that he had punished the law. In 2010, a film based on the incident, You Don't Know Jack, was released.
Jack Kevorkian is played by legendary Hollywood actor Al Pacino and directed by Barry Levinson, who won the Oscar for "Rain Man." The film tells a solid and detailed account of Jack's experience of constantly fighting for the idea of assisting others in "euthanasia". The film does not have any superfluous technical renderings. It relies entirely on the performance of the actors and through various historical events to show the huge controversy caused by "euthanasia" in American society. At the same time, the producers did not simply portray Jack as a reforming hero. While trying to remain neutral, it showed that Jack gradually fell into the adversity of "fighting alone", and highlighted the difficulty of legalizing euthanasia.
In the film, the scene where Jack performs euthanasia for his friend, a female doctor with cancer, is almost the same as the scene in Fu Daren's video. The patient left quietly in the company of his family, his hands clasped together, and his face relaxed. Being able to help friends get rid of their illnesses and retain the dignity of life, Jack can accept it calmly even though it is not easy to be sad. But in the face of his own sister, who died of a heart attack, he couldn't accompany her, and when he was told by the hospital to go to the morgue for a last look, he refused. He didn't want to see his sister as she was now, it was indecent. He just wanted to remember his sister's voice and smile when she was alive. The film progresses in a gradual decline and bottoming out. At the beginning, Jack gathered a group of capable people and good people to advise him. He was assisted by a lawyer, supported by family and friends.
However, with the increase in the number of assisted "euthanasia", pressure from all parties has come one after another. Religious people questioned him for blasphemy; state legislators held on to him and tried to convict him of murder over and over again; finally, the state court set up a ban on assisting others in dying; with lawyers, friends, and relatives leaving one after another, Jack finally chose to hit the stone with an egg , not only performed "euthanasia" in person, but also sent the video tape to CBS TV station, in an extreme way to challenge the law, hoping to obtain the legalization of "euthanasia". The judge reminded Jack in his final sentencing that the court was not targeting him for assisting in euthanasia, but that his actions were in contempt of court and above the law.
The law is the guarantee for the normal operation of the current society, and it has a certain rationality and scientificity. No one can use any behavior to coerce the law into submission. For this, Jack must pay for his actions.
After spending 8 years in prison, Jack began to promote euthanasia legislation. He called for the legalization of euthanasia by giving speeches, writing articles, and participating in TV shows. He also ran for Congress in 2008, but failed. In 2011, he died at the age of 83 of a pulmonary blood clot in a Michigan hospital. "Death Doctor" shows the game between law and love . On the one hand, there is the desire of the patient's family for death, and on the other hand, the law restricts this kind of behavior. There is no so-called good and evil, although Jack has repeatedly compared the treatment of seriously ill patients to the Nazi act of delaying death, but it is just a means for the hospital to make money.
But for most doctors, prolonging life is their career. And when prohibited by law, his behavior not only challenged the bottom line of the law, but also challenged the bottom line of the society at that time. The film shows Jack's dilemma in promoting the legalization of "euthanasia". In fact, this is also the dilemma of human nature, the dilemma of morality and ethics, and the ultimate question that civilization has not yet given an answer to.
Where are we from? who are we? Where are we going? Among the three philosophical questions, where will people go, and whether the land of death is included in it, no one has yet been able to answer them. It is your right to choose to die with dignity. However, some people believe that if "euthanasia" is confirmed in a legal form, it may be used by some people to illegally deprive others of their lives. In addition, under the circumstance that human understanding of disease is still very limited, helping others to end their lives without legal permission is contrary to the moral code of the right to live.
Regarding the possibility of "euthanasia" legislation in the future, some lawyers said : "Legislation is a systematic project, and the law is also related to various aspects of a country, and needs to be fully investigated. I personally think that currently in China, legislation allows 'euthanasia' ', the conditions are immature and unrealistic." Undoubtedly, the debate between "noble law" and "dignified life" will continue . Until human beings truly understand what "life" is and see "life and death" clearly. I believe that the answer is not in science and religion, not in ethics and morals, but in the degree of civilization and the cultivation of culture.
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