A Good Death? The Midazolam Murders
Produced by Jacqui Deevoy
Ickonic
Assisted death, according to this documentary, is decided by the patient. Euthanasia is assisted death, but the decision is made by the doctor, sometimes over the strong objections of the patient or next of kin. Euthanasia—which has been legalized and is being promoted quite aggressively—is happening more and more frequently in the UK, especially if you are over age sixty. (If you are under age sixty, you are not necessarily safe, however; children with autism are also targets.) You may remember the movie Logan’s Run, which was about a culture that ceremoniously executed everyone on their thirtieth birthday based on the belief that life was not worth living once you were that old. The apparent cutoff for tolerable quality of life may be sixty for now, but how long will it be until Logan’s Run is not fiction? As I write this, I’m sixty-three. Maybe I’m just lucky, but the last three years haven’t been that bad.
Euthanasia used to be considered a crime, but the value of life has seen considerable deflation over the last hundred years, particularly in the medical/pharmaceutical industry. They have been putting out deadly potions for many years, but at least they were trying to be sneaky about it. They usually didn’t kill you instantly. They could take a long time. And big pharma would get away with it. Nobody went to jail. Murder is legal if you do it slowly enough.
Just to spike the evil-meter a little more, this film shows that the UK’s preferred method of giving someone the bum’s rush out of this world is essentially prolonged torture. The drug cocktail includes midazolam and morphine. Midazolam creates a slow respiratory depression, which is not an easy death.
Why would hospitals be pushing euthanasia? Money. I know—shocking, right? Older, possibly terminal patients are expensive. They take up valuable room space, time and treatments. In countries with socialized medicine like the UK, Canada and others, their medical systems are overloaded. As Margaret Thatcher once said, the problem with socialism is that, sooner or later, you run out of other people’s money.
I’ve heard that euthanasia is also becoming much more popular in Canada, and it has started creeping into the United States, with Oregon being the first state to decriminalize doctor-assisted deaths. I wonder if medical schools are offering courses on how to judge when it is appropriate to whack your patient. Just one more reason to add to the growing list of reasons to stay as far away from doctors and hospitals as much as you can. The thumb is UP for this video.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Fall 2023
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