Dying with Dignity Bill offers easy way out but no answers

Dying with Dignity Bill offers easy way out but no answers Disability rights advocate Conor Lynott

Euthanasia and assisted suicide offer a “tap-out option”, rather than greater dignity, according to 24 year-old disability rights advocate Conor Lynott, who himself has a diagnosis of Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy.

Lost their way

“If it’s there, people might take euthanasia as an easy option,” he told The Irish Catholic. “It gets rid of the problem – it doesn’t face it.”

He said that there’s an “irony” about the fact that “the debate is taking place during a pandemic”, and that while he’s sure the bill is well-intentioned, the authors had “lost their way”.

“They’re trying to give people authority over their own lives and they’re trying to do something for disability rights, but they lost their way,” he said, suggesting instead that the solution lies in “exploring how to deal with pain”.

“You can always find a way to live with a disability,” he said, “and how to live with pain is something that should be explored”.

Mr Lynott made a submission to the Justice Committee about the ‘Dying with Dignity’ Bill out of concern over the consequences of the bill for people with disabilities. Speaking at Hope Ireland’s ‘End of Life Matters’ conference, Mr Lynott said he felt suited to tackling the bill head-on, coming from a background in history and philosophy.

“It’s worth noting that I was interested in the arguments against euthanasia, particularly the ‘slippery slope’ argument that would have been common in philosophy…when I saw this bill, I saw the submission as a platform to make my voice heard about my concerns,” Mr Lynott said.

“I don’t think the bill itself is the answer,” he said, “as it leads to a slippery slope” – a reference to the idea that once introduced in a country, the grounds for euthanasia and assisted suicide expand widely, as has been seen in the Netherlands, Canada, and Portland, Oregon in the US.

Dying process

“There needs to be a broader discussion around the dying process,” Mr Lynott said, “as there is a real misunderstanding of death and what it means”.