The Tree of Life?

Tomorrow my Father shall be taken to the unit, Respirationscenter Øst (RCØ), which specializes in respiration; in his case the ventilator he needs to stay alive. While a yearly check on his vital equipment may sound well and good, this time we have a horrifying prospect before us: His doctor has declared him unfit to live, with the specification that he is too costly for society to be kept alive.

Now, my Father has been absolutely clear from the onset of his ALS-diagnosis that he wishes to be here for as long as there is life. Which is a deep-rooted sentiment in our family and we all stand by him in his decision.

These years assisted suicide is being widely discussed here, being seen in a romantic light by many as an easy (dubbed the "dignified") way out of an "impossible" situation when ill. Our family is experiencing the aspects of what that may entail once allowed. 

Seeing ventilators/respirators are machines which may be turned off, the doctors are slipping assisted suicide in the back door using strong language on how they alone have the professional capacity to decide who is fit to be kept alive.

You have no right to say no. Your medical team owns your right to live.

Denmark is a country of next to no corruption and yet the mechanism triggering corruption is always existent in us. The present situation is but one example. 

A quiet, hidden, clinical murder - or rather, we are not just talking murder. This is an execution. An execution since the medical team is claiming to be acting on behalf of society.

A society, which kills its citizens, has no longer the right to call itself a democracy. 

Khalid Wad Albaih, The Tree of Life, May 1, 2012.

The Khartoon shown is courtesy of Khalid Wad Albaih and must not be reproduced without his permission.