'We can't choose the day we leave': Why author Shin Ah-yeon opposes physician-assisted suicide
Author Shin Ah-yeon
Medically assisted suicide is sometimes featured in films and books, but only a few Koreans have experienced it. Author Shin Ah-yeon’s essay titled “I’ve Been to Switzerland to Witness Euthanasia” is a rare glimpse into the practice.
Shin accompanied one of her readers, a Korean Australian identified by his family name of Heo, on a trip to Switzerland in 2021. During that journey, the author says, she became an opponent of physician-assisted suicide.
The following are excerpts from that interview, edited for length and clarity.
Q. What made you oppose the idea of medically assisted suicide after the trip?
A. I couldn’t agree with the way they terminated one’s life. Heo wanted me to write his story into a book. While working on the book, I came to believe in God. Heo said people are born against their will, but that we could end our lives with our will. But that doesn’t make sense to me. As if it was not our choice to come, we can’t choose the day we leave.
You don’t seem to relate to the pain of chronically ill patients.
How could I not know their pain? I scream with pain when I bump myself into the edge of furniture. Physician-assisted suicide is needed for some patients, but what if the vulnerable, such as seniors and children, fall victim to it? Some people even opt for physician-assisted suicide because they don’t want to spend their last years wearing diapers. It can’t be a reason to commit suicide.
You’ve witnessed the people left behind by those who choose medically assisted suicide.
The family seemed to be traumatized. So I came to think that death can’t be a personal choice because it also affects the lives of our loved ones.
According to recent surveys, about 80 percent of Koreans are in favor of physician-assisted suicide. What are the alternatives?
A healthy society is one where there is heated discussion over the pros and cons of physician-assisted suicide. One alternative is to eliminate the practice of overtreatment and allow people to spend the last years of their lives at home like we used to in the past.
BY YOO JU-HYUN [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)