There is no easy way out

Letter of the day

Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Thursday, Apr. 11, 2013 Last Modified: 8:53 AM CDT Thursday, Apr. 11, 2013 | Updates

Seldom have I been so angered by something in your paper as I am by Thomas Steur's April 10 letter voicing his opinion that Susan Griffiths is taking the easy way out.

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Seldom have I been so angered by something in your paper as I am by Thomas Steur's April 10 letter voicing his opinion that Susan Griffiths is taking the easy way out.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2013 (4732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seldom have I been so angered by something in your paper as I am by Thomas Steur’s April 10 letter voicing his opinion that Susan Griffiths is taking the easy way out.

This is a person who has clearly never suffered severe or chronic pain, not to mention paralysis. Nor has he ever watched a loved one diminish to a shell of a person, whose life consists of non-stop suffering.

But I have and I hope Steur never finds himself stuck in a wheelchair, unable to eat, drink or talk, in pain, but unable to express it to anyone.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Susan Griffiths spends one of her last days at home on April 4. — RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Susan Griffiths spends one of her last days at home on April 4.

Griffiths is a brave woman, who chooses to die with dignity and a minimum of suffering and I, for one, applaud her.

There is an old adage: Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. Steur should learn it.

SANDRA SINCLAIR

Winnipeg

The legalization of assisted suicide would devalue people with disabilities and does not provide sufficient safeguards to protect those with disabilities who are vulnerable. Often, the misperception exists that living with a disability leads to suffering and an undignified state of being.

The Manitoba League for Persons With Disabilities believes that legalizing assisted suicide creates a double standard. If assisted suicide existed for people with disabilities, whereas suicide within the general public continued to be discouraged through suicide prevention measures, this would maintain a double standard that reinforces discrimination against persons with disabilities and devalues our life experience.

We applaud the Conservative government’s decision not to re-open the assisted suicide debate, thus maintaining Canadian prohibitions against assisted suicide.

APRIL D’AUBIN

Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities

Winnipeg