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Euthanasia

【Euthanasia】The following is from a story on “60 Minutes” (10/12/80) about the growing interest in euthanasia and its actual practice, including cases where it went unprosecuted:

Dame Cicily, a woman given the equivalent of knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for her years of work with the dying, and the founder of the Hospice Movement in England and the U.S., gave the estimation that the problem with granting or encouraging use of the “right” to die is that it will soon become the duty to die. Knowing the depravity of man, she said, it is unthinkable that once old people enlist the help of friends or family, they will soon be expected to enlist such help to “end it all.” People will say to the ones dying and in pain, “You know, you don’t have to go on like this. You could end it all painlessly and quickly, and stop your own pain and the hardship on your family.”