I watched the SBS documentary and I found it very interesting. There
is no good reason not to discuss this topic and to see exactly what
happens in other, more enlightened countries, such as Switzerland.

Now we know that Paul, as a good Catholic, takes the religious
viewpoint that only God should decide as to when he will gasp his
last breath and under what circumstances.

Personally I want a choice in the matter. That choice should be none
of the church's business. If I am riddled with cancer or have a brain
trapped in a none functioning body, it should be my decision is life
is worth living or not.

Exit Switzerland, which is seperate from Exit International, has
drawn up a great set of guidlines by which they operate. We could use
them as a guide as to the kind of laws that we could introduce in
Australia, avoiding much pain and suffering for those who choose to
make their own decision about their lives. Let the church preach to
its flock and keep out of my business and the business of other
Australians who don't have much regard for their opinion

"This is why I found it objectionable in the extreme that SBS television should choose to show a pro-suicide documentary..."

Ah, here we have the real Catholic message, carefully hidden behind a pretence of concern over the suicides of healthy people: how dare people assert their control over their own lives and their own bodies! Even those who are sick, who are dying, who are in excruciating pain, must be denied release because Paul's Invisible Friend doesn't like it. Or so Paul thinks, the Invisible Friend having been very quiet about this (and everything else) for a good many centuries now.

Possibly the rise in suicides is due to an increasing realisation that each person has the ultimate responsibility for their own life and their own death, and that if life becomes intolerable you have the right to do something about it -- no matter what the man in the frock says.

But I do find it fascinating that Paul and all the other anti-assisted-dying and anti-choice authors here find it necessary to conceal their religious stance in their articles. It's almost as if they are ashamed of it -- as if they felt it was irrational and stupid, or something.

http://www.ccfmtn.org/leave-legacy.htm

I particularly like this Catholic advert, stating that you can
"convert earthly treasures to heavenly ones".

Sheesh, you can take it with you after all, by leaving your money
to the church!

So let me see. The Vatican is seriously rich, the largest owner of
real estate on the planet, I have been told. They have large
investments in palliative care. So if I choose not to go into
one of their homes for a year or two, they will certainly lose
revenue. How much money does the church earn per year from legacies?
All that valuable real estate, from people who have no children,
if they can be convinced that they can take it with them.

So it seems clearly in the financial interests of the Vatican to
heavily lobby against euthanasia, as it could cost them serious
money

The author states "We need to reject the subtle and not-so-subtle messages that might, overtime blur our minds to the reality that regardless of circumstances, no suicides are all right."
I never fails to amaze me the arrogance of certain individuals who believe that they have a better knowledge of what is in my (and everybody elses) interests than I do myself. I can think of many instances where suicide might be a perfectly reasonable solution to a persons problems.
If a person is suffering from constant physical or psychological pain then suicide may be a perfectly reasonable course of action. Whilst I don't agree with legalizing euthanasia, the choice to end ones own life is a very important choice and under some circumstances may be the best course of action for an individual.

For Paul Russel to equate a sad teenager in the prime of life with an eighty year-old in the agony of a terminal illness is sickening. The author clearly enjoys knowing that people suffer; he probably feels ennobled by their pain and misery - closer to his god perhaps. I sincerely hope the last years of his life are spent in intolerable pain and agony so he too can ennoble the people around him.
He's worried about youth suicides - Ha! The majority of youth suicides are by young gay boys whose self esteem and desire to live has been extinguished as a direct result of Roman Catholic [and some other religions] insistence that homosexuality is a sin. The sin is in driving healthy young people to suicide, Paul, not in deciding, after having had a good life, that one is ready to die.
This irrational and callous essay is typical of dogmatic religious bigotry that has ruined the lives of so many millions throughout history. Religions and gods are the creations of the humans who worship them. They have no universal worth, they are only useful for those who need them and they have nothing to do with life and death. We all do that on our own, and should be allowed to do it on our own terms.