Perth quadriplegic Christian Rossiter has won a landmark legal case giving him the right to starve himself to death, but now says he could yet be talked out of taking his life. Mr Rossiter, who won the right to have his feeding tube removed in a judgment delivered on Friday by West Australian Chief Justice Wayne Martin, thanked the judge for his benevolence.
Speaking through a tracheotomy tube at Perth’s Brightwater care facility, where he lives, Mr Rossiter said he was happy that he had won the right to die.
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Justice Martin said it was his task to apply the law to the case dispassionately and it was important to emphasise what the case was “not about”.
“It’s not about euthanasia … nor is it about the right to life,” he told the court.
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“It’s my decision. I’m a religious man, I say the Lord’s Prayer, I pray for world peace and the dolphins and the whales,” Mr Rossiter said.
He said he did not know whether he was destined for heaven.
“I wonder about heaven,” he said.
Full story:
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/quadriplegic-wins-right-to-starve-20090814-ekmk.html
August 14th, 2009 6:40 pm
My mother is a quadriplegic, and I have got to say this is kind of disheartening. If any fit and able person attempts to commit suicide and fails, it is unquestionably legal to put them in a mental facility against their will. Why then is it a fundamental right of the handicapped to kill themselves? Just because they are unable to kill themselves with the methods available to most others does not mean we should enable them. Depression is extremely common in people with paralysis, and giving them the means to act on it is criminal.
August 14th, 2009 8:08 pm
Right to die peacefully and without suffering is fundamental, any person who thinks differently is concerned about himself and his own belief that he himself will be deprived of going to heavon or wharever emotional benifit /satisfaction that can be had.
My father who was 92 and just suffered a back injury, which meant that he will be bed ridden and require care by others for basic body’s daily need refused to live like that, he had no illness and had never needed any medicine in his entire life.He insisted on no feeding[food or water], he could feed himself if he wanted to.He had given me full powers but I did not need to exercise, gradually ate less every day and stopped completely for last couple of days.He was peacefull, had his children and grand children, and my mother around when he took his last breath.With him were two of the many grand children who are doctors, one of them brain surgeon.I for one am very happy for him as I did follow his wishes faithfully,did not allow any body to deny him his basic right, he left us as I was communicating verbally good wishes to him moment before coma state.
August 14th, 2009 8:33 pm
I fully agree with mahesh. The fact that any person desires to tell another human being what he or she MUST do in terms of their own life or death is a fundamental problem in society that I do not understand. Obviously in situations where the patient is not of sound mind this becomes more difficult, but in this case the patient is of sound mind and is fully responsible for himself. His entire life is nothing but pain, and if he wants to not eat it is no other person’s right or responsibility to stop that outcome. This is about compassion; we need to respect the man’s wishes for his own life and his own death.
August 14th, 2009 8:34 pm
These things are only criminal because society has constructed them as such.
August 15th, 2009 1:35 am
Ok, if I suffer a stroke or heart attack or bad wreck,and you know I am not gonna live without tubes and thing connected to me the rest of my life, or in that case die ,and to be brought back to a life of constant pain,and not be able to do anything ,and I told them if I die not to resucitate, do you think God would punish me?. I dont think so…this man cannot live without a feeding tube, I think he has the right .. years ago,he would have already been dead…
August 15th, 2009 3:44 am
You silly people are not considering the larger implication: that broken people have no value. How utterly disgusting and despicable that you think humans should discard life like old rags.
August 15th, 2009 8:36 am
I tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of painkillers. My friends and people at work tried to help me… but I couldn’t handle… anything. It was only by coming to know Jesus that I got the help I really needed. I have a report that basically says I am a lost cause, mentally at least. But I know i’m not. I’m fine. And I don’t want to kill myself.
The harshness of some Christians sometimes has me baffled. There should be compassion for Christian Rossiter’s situation not judgement. I have no doubt that God will judge him.
August 15th, 2009 8:56 am
I don’t know, I never said that we should “discard a human like a Old rag, your words. You never know how another person feels until you are in his shoes..so don’t judge him…My sister was very ,very ill, and she told me she prayed every day that God let her die,and finally she did just that..You know man can keep a heart beating after you are dead,well brain dead anyway, and even if you do die, they can bring you back to life..but to what kind of life? It is something to think about…
August 15th, 2009 6:41 pm
Would you think it a good idea to greet every person who received a positive test for AIDS with a cyanide pill? For it to be acceptable for a handicapped person to kill themselves, but it not be acceptable for an able bodied person to do so is to fundamentally declare that handicapped people are of less value than able bodied individuals. Personhood does not depend on utility, and when it does we open the door to make ourselves monsters.
August 17th, 2009 10:03 am
Imagine if Joni Eareckson Tada had committed suicide by starvation when she first became a quadraplegic ( http://www.joniandfriends.org/Joni_Bio.pdf )?
People have worth, regardless of their apparent ability to give back to society. They have this worth because God created them – not because they feel worthy or they can give back in any tangible manner. God loves us all. We need to treat ourselves and others like He does – not based upon what we think or feel, since those are warped by our experiences and not necessarily based upon what God has said.
October 3rd, 2009 7:41 am
I should have mentioned that Christian Rossiter died a couple of weeks ago. The news coverage of his death was somewhat more subdued than the news coverage of his right to die.
October 3rd, 2009 9:20 am
NT, did he carry through with his plan to hill himself? Or was his death natural?
October 3rd, 2009 9:26 am
He went through with his wish and he asked the nursing home to stop feeding him through his tube. So he in effect he starved to death.
August 14th, 2009 6:53 pm
Jeremiah, I would agree whole heartedly. It seems to me that instead of offering people the help that they need, we just fight for the right to rid themselves from our own misery. Sometimes, just sometimes, I can see the depravity which so many preached about.
August 14th, 2009 8:11 pm
This is not about heaven or hell – let God judge that – it is about the depravity of humanity who could not care enough about their fellow human to offer more help.
August 14th, 2009 8:38 pm
It is not about society’s social constructs, but about the value of every life. If the man is in such pain, perhaps then his mental state is warped, and not of sound mind. Thus, by your own admission, he should not be allowed to do this. Anyone who wants to end his or her own life is in a bad mental state.
August 15th, 2009 7:32 am
Deb, my living states that I will no survive on life support if I am brain dead. I have given my wife a do not resuscitate order. The issue with this man, and has stated that he may change his mind, is that he is very much alive.
August 15th, 2009 6:48 pm
I am of course not talking about those with the do not resuscitate orders. Deb, you are right when you say that if they are able to bring you back, it generally is not a healthy way to live.
I would like to add a link to a post I did some time ago, which I think fits the general tone of the article:
http://thechurchofjesuschrist.us/2009/04/true-justice-and-morality-aborting-fetuses-with-special-needs/