Chris Turner, author of the excellent book The Geography of Hope, has a great piece on peak oil in The Walrus.
My reading at the new McNally Robinson Booksellers is tonight at 7 pm.
Eight hundred Britons have signed up with Dignitas and 100 have gone to Switzerland to die with dignity with the organization’s help, according to this piece on the British assisted suicide debate from The Economist. In addition, four out of five people support changes to the assisted suicide laws in that country so that anyone accompanying a terminally ill patient to Switzerland would not be doing anything illegal, as is now the case.
Assisted suicide is getting lots of attention across the pond. There have been a couple of high-profile cases in Britain recently and while a proposal to legalize assisted suicide seems destined to fail in Parliament, Lord Falconer (no relation, obviously) is pushing for an amendment that would make it legal for Brits to travel to Switzerland to die with dignity. He laid out his argument in an op-ed piece in The Times.
In other words, the debate is happening there and while the legalization of assisted suicide in Britain made not come right away, it will happen after citizens have had a real chance to learn about it.
Would that we were having a similar discussion here in Canada.
I will be reading and speaking at McNally Robinson’s Toronto location at 7 pm on Friday, June 12. Aside from a chance to hear more about That Good Night: Ethicists, Euthanasia and End-of-Life Care, it’s a great opportunity to check out the new store. I haven’t been yet, but I’ve been hearing great things, including that it offers the selection of a big-box store and the charm and comfort of an independent. Sounds good to me.