The Suicide Tourist

Britain's obsession with reality television reached new heights — or depths — with the broadcast of the assisted suicide of the 59-year-old terminally ill American at a Swiss clinic.

Showing the final moment of death had long been a final taboo, even for no-holds-barred British TV, where sex and violence are common, and the broadcast unleashed debate on an issue that strongly divides public opinion. Craig Ewert, a former computer scientist from Chicago, is shown lying in bed with his wife at his side while he takes barbiturates. He asks for a glass of apple juice to mask the bad taste and help him swallow. Then he uses his teeth to turn off his ventilator — and dies on camera. Before he died, Ewert said taking his own life would mean less suffering for himself and his family.

"If I go through with it, I die as I must at some point," he says in the documentary, which chronicles his 2006 decision to take his own life after being diagnosed with degenerative motor neuron disease. "If I don't go through with it, my choice is essentially to suffer, and to inflict suffering on my family, and then die."

Care Not Killing, an anti-euthanasia group aligned with the Catholic Church and other religious organizations in Britain, denounced the broadcast as "a cynical attempt to boost television ratings" and persuade Parliament to legalize assisted suicide.

Mary Ewert wrote in the British press that her husband had been enthusiastic about having his final moments televised. "He was keen to have it shown because when death is hidden and private, people don't face their fears about it," she said, adding that he wanted viewers to understand that assisted suicide allowed him to die comfortably rather than enduring a long, drawn out and painful demise.

The documentary by Oscar-winning director John Zaritsky was previously been shown on Canadian and Swiss TV, as well as numerous film festivals, where it provoked little controversy. But it struck a raw nerve in Britain, where the divisive debate over assisted suicide remains unresolved. Zaritsky said it would have been "less than honest" to make the film without showing the actual suicide because it would have left viewers wondering if the death was unpleasant, cruel, or carried out against Ewert's will. "By putting it out there, and putting it out there in its entirety, people can judge for themselves," he said, adding that the documentary gives viewers an insight into how assisted suicide would work if it is legalized in more places.

Originally called "The Suicide Tourist," the film was renamed "Right to Die?" for its British broadcast on Sky TV's Real Lives digital channel, which draws far fewer viewers than the network's myriad news, sports or movie shows. Still, it generated enormous publicity, with clips shown throughout the day on Sky News and rival channels. Ewert, who was living in Britain when he became ill, went abroad to end his life because assisted suicide is illegal in Britain. In the film, he says he wanted to take action before the disease, which destroys cells that control essential muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing and swallowing, left him completely incapacitated.

The documentary shows Ewert and his wife going about their daily routine: Mary cleans her husband's teeth, bathes, shaves and feeds him as he bows his head. Speaking in a reedy voice and breathing deeply from plastic tubes attached to his nose, Ewert said he felt like "empty shell." He said some people might say: "No, suicide is wrong, God has forbidden it. Fine, but you know what? This ventilator is God."

Before the pair leave for Switzerland, he is wheeled through a local park. "I see the plants, and they're dying, and I'm dying too," he muses. "They'll be coming back next spring — I'm unlikely to. I think I can take my bow, and say: Thanks, it's been fun."

Dignitas, a well-known assisted suicide group in Switzerland, where suicide is legal in some circumstances, aided Ewert. The group's founder said the presence of cameras and filmmakers did not in any way influence Ewert's decision. "Ewert, because of his illness and his declared intent right from the start to shorten his own suffering, never once considered the possibility of abandoning his assisted suicide." Public opinion polls suggest that 80% of Britons believe the law should be changed to allow a doctor to end a patient's life in a case like Ewert's, but opposition from influential religious groups remains strong and the anti-suicide law remains in place.

I think that dying is a decision left up to the people involved and not governments. And certainly not the religious factions. People must be allowed to die with some dignity, on their own terms and without suffering. And those who help make the process easier should not be branded criminals, but heroes.