Greek society, some argue, needs more time to prepare itself before the conversation about euthanasia can take place. I have trouble understanding people who expect that society will ever be ready for major changes and what exactly they mean when they talk about the “right time” for such a discussion.
Thessaloniki, for example, is still not ready for a cremation facility, even though the late Yiannis Boutaris put the matter on the agenda in 2011 when he was mayor. It’s still unclear when the time for that discussion will mature; Attica, in the meantime, finally welcomed the cremation facility at Ritsona – not without a fight – where Boutaris recently had his final send-off. A fervent supporter of cremation, he didn’t live to see the day when his city would acquire a cremation in Greece.
Lawmakers in Britain recently passed a law on assisted suicide for adults in the end stages of a deadly illness, with a life expectancy of six months or less. Other countries in Europe – Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands – came before them. Greek society, however, is grappling with serious concerns about the issue, yet the conversation is being had, quietly and in private. Families in Europe’s Mediterranean arc see it as their duty to care for their sick and dying loved ones. They silently endure the daily agony of watching their loved ones succumb slowly and painfully to a state of degradation. Fear, shame, profound anxiety about what is right and wrong, countless dilemmas and feelings of guilt – these are the painful battles faced by those caring for people with chronic, incurable illnesses, and by those at their side.
This traditional “closed system” of care – a model that has been rapidly declining in the Mediterranean in the past few years – is also the reason why the state has been so slow in seriously addressing the creation of palliative care centers. This stands in stark contrast to Anglo-Saxon countries and those of Northern Europe, which have been working on finding solutions to this issue for several years. To this day, however, the concept of palliative care is still in a nascent stage in Greece: The facilities are minimal, the needs are vast, and the shortages are enormous.
It is immature and perhaps selfish to believe that the conversation about “the end” will someday take place calmly, under more suitable circumstances. We will never be ready, because a few extra moments, a sliver of clarity or just a few more loving words will always matter above all else. The ability to take responsibility for one’s own end is also of equal importance, though.