Mary Kenny
Actress Olivia de Havilland circa 1936
Photo: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images One of the social effects of the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdown is that it has, for the moment, somewhat quietened the voices of the euthanasia lobby.
We have heard a little less, over the course of this worrying year, about ‘the right to die’. When the death toll internationally is announced and measured daily, the ‘right’ to die would surely seem incongruous. Not to say heartless and cruel.
The fact that older people, and people in care homes, are more vulnerable to catching the virus, and are more likely to succumb to it, has been, at least publicly, a deep cause for concern.
I’m not sure I altogether took to the word ‘cocooning’, but it does express a sense of protecting those who may need to be shielded from the infection.
Scandal
Although it is also a matter of shame and neglect that so many deaths did take place in care homes. It is considered a scandal, and a tragedy, that some older people died alone, unvisited by family or friends, because of the restrictions that were imposed.
The suspicion that some sources seemed to think it almost an acceptable idea if the virus carried off the old and the fragile was considered an outrage.
Most people have acted decently, and many people have acted heroically in caring for their elderly relatives and friends. I see messages on social media from younger people who are devastated by the loss of a grandparent or great-grandparent, even if the departed may have reached a great age.
I’ve been surprised by how risk-averse most folks are”
The push for euthanasia won’t go away, and it goes on apace, regrettably, in the Netherlands and Belgium. But its advocates may have to change their tone, and the language they use about the ‘right’ to die, which seems so insensitive in a time of plague.
But on the pro-life side, some adjustment of language may be needed too. There is no ‘right’ to die: but there does come a time when nature takes its course, and we will all have to accept death. Thus, because we must die sometime, there is no ‘right’ to life either – but there is a right not to be killed. There is a right to affirm the gift of life, for sure.
Euthanasia is about putting into law the deliberate killing of a person, and the global pandemic has put that in a new perspective.
The extreme care which most people have taken to shield themselves from infection has been an outstanding feature of recent times. I’m by inclination something of a risk-taker, but I’ve been surprised by how risk-averse most folks are: people in their 70s, 80s and 90s prudently obeying all the rules so as not to be in danger of illness and death.
Yes, I do believe that one of the effects of Covid has been to weaken the euthanasia lobby.
Tragedy of Lebanon
Lebanon will be 100 years old as a state in September, but some Lebanese are wondering if it will last long enough to celebrate its formal birthday. It is reported to be in a condition of near-collapse, with a melt-down of the Lebanese currency, the lira, and corruption rife.
Sad to hear that the Lebanon is now so dysfunctional, because it was once a byword for consensus and tolerance: 18 faiths are officially recognised by the Lebanese republic. When my father studied at the Jesuit American Seminary in Beirut – way back in the 1890s – he thought the country cultured and enchanting, and the people charming.
Christianity was at the time the dominant faith, but alas, it seems to have been pushed to the margins in recent times.
The Lebanese are an ancient trading people, their roots going back to the Phoenicians. Their country could be an oasis of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East. And once was.