Where the termination of a life is legally regulated and socially accepted as a possible response to severe suffering, our view of vulnerability, dependence, and dignity changes. A person’s dignity does not depend on whether they are healthy, capable, autonomous, or free from pain. It remains, it must remain inviolable — especially in illness, despair, and at the end of life.

Many people who express a wish to die don’t simply want to die. They don’t want to be alone, be a burden to anyone, suffer unbearable pain, or lose control over their lives….

I fear that this law — despite all the protective measures it includes and the understandable motives of its many supporters — could create expectations.

Those who perceive themselves as weak, in need of care, or costly might one day believe they are doing others a service by dying.

A truly compassionate, humane society conveys the opposite: You are not superfluous. You are not alone. Your life, even in its greatest fragility, is precious.

Where the termination of a life is legally regulated and socially accepted as a possible response to severe suffering, our view of vulnerability, dependence, and dignity changes. A person’s dignity does not depend on whether they are healthy, capable, autonomous, or free from pain. It remains, it must remain inviolable — especially in illness, despair, and at the end of life.

Many people who express a wish to die don’t simply want to die. They don’t want to be alone, be a burden to anyone, suffer unbearable pain, or lose control over their lives….

I fear that this law — despite all the protective measures it includes and the understandable motives of its many supporters — could create expectations.

Those who perceive themselves as weak, in need of care, or costly might one day believe they are doing others a service by dying.

A truly compassionate, humane society conveys the opposite: You are not superfluous. You are not alone. Your life, even in its greatest fragility, is precious.