Sunday, November 10, 2013

BELGIUM, WHERE DEATH BECOMES THE NORM, LIVING THE EXCEPTION




A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT TEN YEARS OF LEGAL EUTHANASIA IS A 
TOUCHSTONE FOR RADICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO SUFFERING


 By Margaret Somerville

Recently I received an invitation to fly to Calgary in mid-November to attend the North American première of a film called “End Credits” at the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival. I was asked to lead a post-screening conversation with the audience and was given access to a copy of the film with English subtitles, which I viewed once. My access has since been blocked and my invitation to attend the festival withdrawn. The scenes from the film, which I describe below, are accurate to the best of my recollection.


“End Credits” is directed by Alexander Decommere and written by Marc Cosyns. It’s a documentary on the practice of euthanasia in Belgium 10 years after it was legalized in 2002. It follows the dying and death of two people, whom the film makers describe as follows: “Adelin, 83, and Eva, 34, two very different people, who are at the dawn of the end of their lives, ask for help with and care for a decent passing away.”

The most striking commonality shared by the old man, Adelin, and the young woman, Eva, is that they are profoundly lonely.

continue reading at http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org




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