Euthanasia and the myth of choice

There’s a little bit of controversy floating around Australia at the moment because this ad was banned from TV:

The reason for the ban is that it supposedly promotes suicide. I don’t really think it does, and the regulators probably need to come up with a better excuse if they want to ban it.

But that’s an aside. I wanted to write some of my thoughts on the argument used by the advert.

According to the man on the bed, it’s all about choice. He’s chosen everything in his life – what course to do at uni, how hard to party at uni, his wife, how many kids to have, what car to drive, the clothes he wears, and even his haircut.

He then says the only thing he hasn’t chosen is to be terminally ill and have his family watch him go through it. He states his case that he has a right to a final choice of ending his life.

Well that’s all very well, but how much do we really choose? Let’s take a look a couple of his ‘choices’:

Do we choose to go to university or not? Well, sort of. But it’s got an awful lot to do with whether our parents and friends value education. In fact, it’s got a lot to do with how well off your parents are. If you have poor parents (not your choice), then you’re very unlikely to go to university.

What about kids? Surely it’s your choice to have kids or not? Well firstly, a lot of people have kids when they don’t intend to (even with the most careful of contraception), and a stack more can’t have kids no matter how hard they try. Secondly, the number of kids you have is shaped largely by societal expectations. Not so long ago, women used to have stacks of kids; things changed and now everybody has a lot less. Yes, I know some people still have lots, but I would hazard a guess that even they’re shaped by those around them.

Surely he chooses his t-shirt and his haircut? Unlikely. Fashions change fast. Whether you try to keep up with fashions or not, they still dictate what you wear. Maybe our fictional character had long hair when he went to university in the 70s? He couldn’t get away with that now, it’d be too hard to get a job.

The ‘choices’ we make in life are shaped in part or whole by society. I challenge you to think of any choice that isn’t.

This idea that we are free to choose everything in life stems from the high importance we place on ourselves as individuals. In our society the needs and wants of the individual are superior to those of the collective.

I think the advert makes a poor argument. An appeal to ‘choice’ overlooks the degree to which our choices are shaped by those around us. It’s also worth considering how this might relate to abortion (pro-choice?).

As for euthanasia itself? Honestly, my mind’s not entirely made up. That might seem a bit strange considering my conservative-Christian values, but I think the issue is more complex that some on the far right would make it out to be.

But just don’t try and tell me it’s all about choice. As Arcade Fire said, “Now who here among us still believes in choice? Not I.”