Euthanasia, troubled teens and Philip Nitschke
Last night, euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke was interviewed on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. (Read the transcript.) In the interview, Nitschke expressed outrage at being described frequently as someone who advocates that troubled teens should be assisted to commit suicide. At one point, he called it a misrepresentation; perpetrated on the basis of an interview he'd done with an American right-wing magazine. Yet, when Denton took him through the details of how this ‘myth’ had arisen, he didn't actually deny any of the logical steps that led to this conclusion. That is, he stood by his definition of an adult as someone over 18 (noting that such a person was capable of voting and being sent off to war), that he believed that suicide was a choice that should be open to those who wanted it, and that, should they want it, we should be allowed to help them get what they want. So although the idea that Nitschke supports assisting the death of ‘troubled teens’ may be focusing on a part of his logic he doesn't like, this is still a long way away from being an urban myth. In fact, it sounded very much to me as if he'd confirmed the truth of it.
Part of his outrage rests on the fact that, as a general rule, he only opens his assisted suicide seminars to people over the age of 65; he is not advocating helping to kill troubled teens willy-nilly. But, unfortunately for his logic, this ‘general rule’ has multiple individual exceptions—one of which is referred to in the July 2007 issue of Exit International, where his view that long-term prisoners who want to die should be assisted to do so is repeated.
Here's the relevant part of the transcript from the Denton interview, with apologies for Dr Nitschke's language:
ANDREW DENTON: You were quoted in a US magazine called National Review as saying that your workshops were potentially for the elderly, for the bereaved, for the depressed or the troubled teen. Is that a correct quote?
PHILIP NITSCHKE: No, that's a not a correct quote and I didn't exactly say that. They, I got asked in this, a long ranging interview by National Review, sort of right wing journal in the US, about what my beliefs were about this issue, about who should have control. And I outlined the idea that I thought that people had to be adult—we're not talking about children—and they had to be mentally well. In other words able to give accurate, valid consent. And they said “Oh adults?” I said at that point, “Yeah, adults.” And she said, the interview if I remember vividly, “Oh you mean like an 18 year old?” And I said “Yeah, that's an adult.” You know an 18 year old, you can go off and kill people in war, that's an adult. They said “So you basically saying that 18 year olds should have access to these best drugs.” Next thing I know, I'm ad, I'm advocating suicide ...
ANDREW DENTON: But did you, how did you answer that question?
PHILIP NITSCHKE: Well I said “Yes,” stupidly.
ANDREW DENTON: Why did you allow yourself to be to be so caught out there, to give so much ammunition to your opposition?
PHILIP NITSCHKE: Yeah, well I mean, look it was a mistake to have said that because at the time what I hadn't factored in, as much as I now do, is this idea that you have to have life experience, so I can see good reason, and I'm quite happy with that good reason.
ANDREW DENTON: How did you not know that then?
PHILIP NITSCHKE: Well, I guess I was, I think I was, I think I was caught. There's always every meeting I go to now someone will leap up the back of the yard and say “You're the person who said that troubled teens should have access to the peaceful pill.” And I think “Oh Christ I'm never, I'm never going to live this down,” and it's a mistake and I wish I hadn't said it but I said it.
Yes, you did say it. And nothing you've said since then really offers genuine reassurance that you didn't mean it, Dr Nitschke.