A woman stricken with kidney disease and her husband have petitioned a municipal official in Kolkart, India, to allow them to commit suicide.
The Times of India reported that Swapna Das and husband Biswanath Das wrote to the district magistrate asking permission to die together because of health care costs they find staggering.
She is on dialysis, which costs 6,000 rupees or U.S.$138, and cannot afford a kidney replacement. Their neighbors financially support them.
Biswanath said they wrote to the chief minister and prime minister to no avail.
Swapna then proposed euthanasia.
“I won’t let her do it all alone and have decided to accompany her on her last journey,” he told the newspaper.
District magistrate Prava Mishrat said he is aware of their circumstances and will send a team to assess their situation.
–T.J. Johnston/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“Couple seeks permission to die”
Times of India, July 1, 2008
There are many people in the US, particularly among the elderly, who make the same choice on a daily basis and without public notice. It is tragic medical care is something that is sold, not shared, around the world.