The brothers Grimm knew that it sometimes takes a child to call out what grown-ups think but dare not say. Whether it is that the emperor wears no clothes or that our parliamentarians show little compassion, you can count on children to speak the truth.
Does it take a 17-year-old to point out that we shouldn’t be focusing on assisted dying but on assisted living?
Take the latest report from the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza. Asked about the Assisted Suicide Bill, which reaches report stage this week, the teenage respondents’ approach is thoughtful and compassionate. In stark contrast to the shallow and weaselly debate that supporters of the Bill have engaged in, here are 15- and 16-year-olds who address the ethical dilemma head-on, pointing out that the legislation risks making ‘some lives more valuable than others’. They ask, ‘is life with a disability not worth living?’ All share an understanding of the potential for coercion and discrimination inherent in the Bill in its current formulation: ‘What if’, asks one 16-year-old girl, ‘it ends up removing people from society that people don’t want in society?’
Some of the respondents are disabled themselves, while others have family members who are approaching their end of life.
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