Documentary sparks euthanasia debate

The World

The film is called �Right to Die?� and the man who at the center of it is a 59 year old college professor who has a condition that severely affects his ability to function on his own. He told his family he didn’t want to experience life in what he called a living tomb, which led him to consider suicide. And so with the support of his family, he ended his own life by drinking a mix of sedatives and then turned off his ventilator. That was in 2006 at an assisted suicide facility in Switzerland, one of only a handful of places where doctor assisted suicides are legal. The man who directed the documentary says it’s necessary to include footage of the suicide in the film because it allows people to judge for themselves. The producers of the film say they want to encourage responsible debate on this extremely difficult moral issue. this analyst says this documentary could really open up the debate because it could be seen by such a wide swathe of society.

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