I have just read that Sean Davison has been arrested on charges of assisted dying (the charge calls it by another name which is incorrect). The news mentions that "Davison's organisation" has just had a convention in South Africa. There has indeed recently been a convention in Cape Town, but it was not "Davison's organisation" -- it was the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, of which Davison had been elected president. People came from all over the world to attend.

The organisation in South Africa, Dignity SA was founded by Davison and others and supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is fully in favour of helping people who are dying slowly in unbearable pain, to receive "doctor assisted dying" if they request it.   This is legal in many other countries around the world now, with more countries coming on board at an increasing rate and Dignity SA are working on trying to have it made legal in South Africa.

The arrest of Davison seems to be a witch-hunt on the part of the authorities -- though their reason for this is not given. It is ironic coming from a country where people who don't want to die are frequently tortured to death in the most bizarre manner -- necklacing (being burned to death) in the townships. Also where farmers and their families are raped, tortured, burned to death with hot irons, have to watch their children being boiled to death, or the children have to watch their parents being hacked to death with pangas, etc. The torture usually goes on for hours. Frequently nobody is even arrested!

But now there is a witch hunt against the leader of a compassionate organisation that seeks legislation to help people dying slowly often in unbearable pain from cancer, ALS and other devastating illnesses. Many of these people are not helped by paliative care. Frequently they die in agony, begging their families to help them die quickly, which the families are mostly afraid to do because of the possible consequences. 

Ironically Nelson Mandela tried to get an "end of life choices" bill though parliament in 1998 but failed -- only to be kept artificially alive for at least six months at the end of his own life -- the very thing he had wanted to avoid. In honour of him and also to save the many desperate people who cannot get doctor assisted dying here, Dignity SA was formed some years ago.  The organisation is currently working on getting it legalised.

It must be emphasised that "doctor-assisted dying" is a choice which people may request, and which doctors who are in favour, may participate in, but are not obliged to. Numerous checks and balances are in place where it it legal to make sure that it is never abused. On the up side, in countries where doctors write out the prescription for the medication, one third of the people never use it. 

Just knowing that they have something to use if the pain becomes more than they can bear, helps the patient relax. Feeling safer knowing knowing help is at hand, they feel less fear and may die peacefully at home with their loved ones around them. After they have died the family hand the medication back to a pharmacy to dispose of it.

In countries where this is not available, chronically ill people, or people who are so severely disabled that they want to die, often commit suicide in violent ways like jumping off buildings or bridges, shooting or hanging themselves, drowning themselves, throwing themselves under trains, drinking poison, etc. Sometimes they don't manage to kill themselves and end up worse than they were before. Regardless of whether or not they succeed, their families are left with shock, pain and trauma, instead of being able to sit around the bedside of a loved one, holding their hands as they slowly fall asleep into a gentle death.

It is time to stop persecuting our heroes, while letting our criminals with their guns, pangas, tires and boxes of matches get off scott-free. Also while our health-care professionals often stand by helplessly watching patients and their families having to deal with the horribly painful deaths of patients who don't respond to palliative care.