La dignità nella morte: l’ultimo saggio di John l’Heureux

Segnaliamo On death and dignity, l’ultimo saggio scritto da John L’Heureux, autore di diversi romanzi e poesie, come A Woman Run Mad, The Shrine at Altamira, The Miracle, e The Medici Boy. Il saggio è stato pubblicato dal New Yorker; in dicembre, verrà pubblicata postuma una raccolta di storie.

And thus my suicide began. Three home visits by two doctors—my primary physician and my neurologist—officially established my decision to die with dignity. At each visit, my doctor emphasized that this decision could be cancelled at any moment, including the moment before I saw it through. I signed a formal document attesting to my decision, and it was co-signed and witnessed, according to the law. […]

Our reasoning: we arrived at our decision through a consieration of who we were together and how we loved and why. We had spent many years in religious life and, separately, we had reached the conclusion that we were responsible for our own lives, for the decisions we made, and for the custodianship of our own bodies. Our lives, finally, were in our own hands and the ultimate disposition of them was ours to make, if we could, if we were not victims of violence.

But what about God? I was, you say, planning to commit suicide and invoking California law as justification. But the state law came about through many lawsuits that were aimed at ending life with dignity, instead of prolonging meaningless suffering. The state acknowledged that. And ending pointless suffering is exactly what many scientists attempt to do in their research, and what doctors attempt to do with their palliative measures, and, I think, what the Catholic Church attempts to do with prayers for the sick. Suffering in itself is not a good. God is not a divine sadist who delights in the pain of His creatures. He is the God of charity and justice. He is the God of compassion and mercy. If I find in myself the need for compassion, to allay suffering and to comfort the living, I feel sure that God has at least as much compassion as I do.

 

 

Alessandra Fiorencis

Laurea magistrale in Scienze Antropologiche ed Etnologiche presso l’Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. Specializzata nel campo dell’antropologia medica, ha condotto attività di formazione a docenti, ingegneri e medici operanti in contesti sia extra-europei che cosiddetti “multiculturali”. Ha partecipato a diversi seminari e conferenze, a livello nazionale e internazionale. Ha lavorato nel campo delle migrazioni e della child protection, focalizzandosi in particolare sulla documentazione delle torture e l’accesso alla protezione internazionale, svolgendo altresì attività di advocacy in ambito sanitario e di ricerca sull’accesso alle cure delle persone migranti irregolari affette da tubercolosi. Presso l’Area Sanità di Fondazione ISTUD si occupa di ricerca, scientific editing e medical writing.

Lascia un commento

Questo sito usa Akismet per ridurre lo spam. Scopri come i tuoi dati vengono elaborati.