In America public opinion has suddenly turned and is supporting not only equal treatment of homosexuals but gay marriage.

I want to raise a similar issue of human rights: the right of a sentient human being to end his or her life when he or she wants to end it, without interference from busybodies, and especially churches.

Conservatives spend a lot of time talking about liberty, but (presumably for religious reasons) omit one important bit of freedom which most of us are denied: the freedom to leave this world when we want to and not when some doctor, health bureaucrat or pastor says we can leave it.

Speaking personally, I have no wish to live a day longer than my wonderful wife, and would be distraught and useless on my own. But liberty to make my own decision is not in my hands, and I also have to admit that my level of courage has never been tested in this regard. Nevertheless, the freedom to go when one wants to should be a human right. It would be interesting to have the statistics about how many living wills are ignored in hospitals and how many people are kept alive when they have had enough.

A huge proportion of medical cost is incurred in the last year of the life of an elderly person (details and statistics tomorrow). What is the point of giving a triple heart by-pass to a 95 year old? For reasons of public policy it makes sense for individuals who are still compos mentis to choose to take a pill and be done with it. That might make the religious squeamish, but it is liberty!

By the way, the same thing applies to the woman who has been raped and who is being denied the liberty of making her own choice about the future, or otherwise, of the unborn child.

Hypocrisy rules, along with muddled thinking. After homosexual marriage freedom in death is the next frontier!