英国の健康な７５歳の元看護師、家族にもNHSにも迷惑かけたくないとスイスで幇助自殺

特に重大な病気があるというわけではないのだけれど、
加齢と共に弱ってきて、前のような活動的な生活を送れなくなってきたと感じていた
Gill Pharaohさん（７５）が、夫とスイスのBaselへ向かい、
川沿いのディナーを楽しんだ翌日の７月２１日、
ディグニタス式の自殺幇助機関で自殺。

Gillさんは元緩和医療専門の看護師。

２ヶ月前のブログで、その理由について以下のように書かれていたとのこと。

'Until I was seventy I was very fit and able to fully participate in any activity I wanted to do. I felt I could still be busy and useful and fairly productive.

Then I had a severe attack of Shingles and it all changed. At seventy five I am told I look ok and I take no medication.

'However, I feel my life is complete and I am ready to die. My family are well and happy – their lives are full and busy. I can no longer walk the distances I used to enjoy so the happy hours spent exploring the streets of London are just a memory now.'

'I have had to make my exit while I am in my right mind and capable of doing so without too much assistance, because I am afraid of compromising the people around me whom I love.

'I have had to do this outside my home, and without telling too many people for the same reason. I have written my goodbyes and tidied my life and hope I have managed to exit as unobtrusively as possible. I have always held a donor card but that will be redundant now.

'If I could have booked my death quite openly, I could have had a party before I died, in the way that people have done, and continue to do, in Switzerland and other places.

'In which case, perhaps any of my body parts that could be reused could be collected immediately. I could also be sure that I will never be an old lady blocking beds in a hospital ward. This would save the NHS a fortune.'

周りに迷惑をかけたくないから。

“ベッドふさぎ（bed blockers）”の老婆にはなりたくないし
これでNHSの医療費もずいぶん浮くはずだから。

もっとオープンに幇助自殺を予約できるのだったら、
パーティを開いてお別れもできるし、
臓器も無駄にせず再利用してもらえるんだったのに、と。

Healthy former nurse, 75, died at Swiss suicide clinic after deciding she didn’t want to risk becoming a burden on her family and the NHS
Daily Mail,　Aug 2, 2015

【３日追記】
Care Not Killingから懸念の声。
https://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/death-of-healthy-ex-nurse-at-swiss-suicide-clinic-deeply-troubling-11363995989505

これぞ「すべり坂」として、現在審議中の法案に懸念。
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/thunderer/article4516491.ece

【４日追記】
その他の報道など
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3184515/No-human-beings-not-shelf-life-healthy-nurse-took-life-old-age-not-fun-passionate-riposte.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/healthy-british-nurse-ends-her-life-in-a-swiss-clinic-because-of-fear-of-getting-old/2015/08/03/78c65680-39ab-11e5-9c2d-ed991d848c48_story.html?wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1（米WPも）
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/retired-nurse-commits-suicide-to-avoid-growing-old/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11781941/Healthy-retired-nurse-who-ended-her-life-changed-her-mind-about-the-ideal-age.html
(「先制的自殺（pre-emptive suicide)」として肯定する声）

「先制的自殺」については、こちらにも　↓
認知症リスクの高い人が「先制的自殺」をする自己決定権を尊重せよ、と米の生命倫理学者(2015/1/28)

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/04/assisted-dying-gill-pharoah-ageing?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
（反対論）
http://www.info-europa.com/2015/08/why-my-partner-gill-pharoah-chose-a-suicide-clinic-1906
（この事件、Irwin医師が噛んでいたのか……）

【6日追記】
http://www.theway.co.uk/news-9994-we-should-cherish-older-people-not-loosen-assisted-suicide-laws-says-former-nhs-chief
(前NHSトップが、PASではなく高齢者の尊重とケアを、と）
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/gill-pharaoh-was-unusual--most-hospice-workers-oppose-assisted-dying-10440271.html
（緩和ケア医でもあるFinlay上院議員が、Gillさんが緩和ケアナースだったことについて
大半の緩和ケア関係者はPASには反対している、Gillさんは例外的、と）