安乐死是否等于善终

Footnotes: the right to die

脚注：死亡的权利

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本文话题稍显沉重，请相信生命是美好的。

Although still uncommon, assisted dying is changing how people think about the end of life.

虽然安乐死还不算普遍，但是它正改变着人们对生命终点的思考。

Georgia Banjo covers foreign affairs for The Economist.

Georgia Banjo登上了经济学人外交版的封面。

She recently wrote about the rapid legalisation and acceptance of the practice in the West.

她最近的文章中写道，安乐死这种做法在西方被接受并迅速合法化。

Assisted dying, in the few countries where it is permitted, is usually reserved for those with chronic, incapacitating conditions or terminal illnesses.

只有极少数国家允许安乐死，通常只为慢性病、丧失行为能力或绝症等情况保留安乐死这个选项。

This makes the right to die murkiest for those with dementia, mental illness or older people who are simply tired of living.

痴呆症患者、心理疾病患者或老人极易对生命产生厌倦，这样的规定模糊了他们的死亡权利。

“The Inevitable”, a book by veteran journalist Katie Engelhart, focuses on six people who are seeking the right to die, even if it means circumventing the law.

资深记者Katie Engelhart的《不可避免》这本书冒着可能违法的风险，着重写了6个追寻死亡权利的人。

Mara Buchbinder, a medical anthropologist, studied the introduction of Vermont’s aid-in-dying laws.

医学人类学学者Mara Buchbinder研究了佛蒙特州安乐死法律的引入。

She describes herself as ambivalent about assisted dying.

她形容自己对安乐死的态度很矛盾。

In her book “Scripting Death” she argues that assisted dying is not just about ending suffering but in some cases curating a “good death”.

在她写的《脚本死亡》这本书中，她认为安乐死不只是终止了痛苦，还在某种情况下策划了一场“善终”。

Andrew Denton, a talk show host in Australia, where assisted death is now permitted in a number of states, hosts the podcast Better Off Dead, which considers the moral and practical implications of legalisation.

如今澳大利亚大多数州都允许安乐死。澳大利亚脱口秀主持人Andrew Denton主持了一档博客节目“再见人生”，该节目探讨了安乐死合法化的道德影响和实际影响。

The most poignant arguments Georgia came across were from personal experience and expert testimony.

Georgia遇到的最尖锐的争论来自于个人经验和专家证词。

The documentary “Laura’s Choice” follows Laura Henkel (pictured), a 90-year-old Australian woman who travelled to Switzerland to die.

纪录片“劳拉的选择”跟踪拍摄了90岁的澳大利亚女性Laura Henkel（如图），她旅行到瑞士度过了生命中最后的时光。

It was produced by her daughter and granddaughter, who struggled to come to terms with Ms Henkel’s decision.

她的女儿和外孙女作为制片人，经过一番挣扎后才同意了Henkel的决定。

For those left behind, an assisted death can feel like a blessing or a curse.

对于被死者抛下的人而言，安乐死或像祝福，或像诅咒。

The pandemic, during which many have died alone in a hospital, may have helped to remove some of this ambivalence.

疫情期间，许多人在医院孤独地死去，这也许会帮助人们消除一些对安乐死的矛盾情绪。

For more of Georgia’s reporting, follow her on Twitter.

如果想了解Georgia的更多报告，请关注她的推特。

安乐死本身的出发点是很好的，担心的就是有些人可能钻漏洞，安乐死也许变成蓄意谋杀。

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