the brilliant professor Stephen Hawking
is of course a cosmologist
and a theoretical physicist and he has
come out
in favor I'll assisted suicide over
summer the headline I thought
no I was kinda under the impression that
any rational person would be in favor
Avaya assisted suicide because you think
somebody have the right to determine
whether or not they want in their lives
so many as late-stage cancer in their
miserable
I think they should be able to do that
right well it's actually only get two
specific in a second and I'll show you
live a little bit more but deeper story
than that
so Stephen Hawking is 71 years old
he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's
disease a for move motor
Miron disease at the age of 21 he was
told he only had two or three years to
live
mean that's stunning right he's 71 now
and he said in 2006 that although people
should have the right to end their life
if they wanted to
quote I think it would be a great
mistake however bad life may seem
there's always something you can do and
sexy that
while there's life there is hope so we
kinda waffled on the issue back then
so recently but
is his comments were being used as a
change in part because in an interview
with the BBC
of Hocking said quote I think those
who have a terminal illness and are in
great pain you have the right to choose
to and their lives
and those that help them should be free
from
prosecution we don't but animals suffer
so why
humans so we went from somewhat waffling
on the issue now we seem like he's a
hundred percent
n he is concerned however
that there must be star safeguards to
ensure that nobody's life is terminated
against their wish
in 1985 when he became very ill with
pneumonia
he was at one stage placed on life
support
and his first wife Jane hawking
was given the option to turn off the
life support now
up apparently she didn't turn it off but
if you did the world would be very
different today
and he says quote there must be
safeguards that the person
concerned genuinely wants to end their
life
and they are not being up pressurized
into it
or have it done without their knowledge
or consent as what have been the case
with me so here's why this is really
interesting
because he went through it personally
where he was on life support
and the critical plugin he would've been
done in 1985
so even somebody who went through that
personal experience
where he was on the brink multiple times
whether be when he was 21 years old they
said you have three or four years to
live
wetherbee this time we're they actually
decided we call upon or not
he is right in the heart of the debate
any still says well
you have to be reasonable and if people
want and their life they should be able
and their life
look i think thats inarguable
that's been my position from the start I
think it's a rather common sense
position
in fact I think that's the default
position
because who also decision should be once
only once in their life
societies know folks aside what the fuck
they have to the personal decision of
mine a private decision a
so you have to come up with a really
strong argument to sway me that
somebody should be able to
self-determined so what's the definition
of self-determination
but another reason why this is big news
is because people
who are against physician-assisted
suicide
have used Stephen Hawking is there go to
example ove
why physician-assisted suicide doesn't
make sense
take a look at this guy is like one the
greatest people that ever lived
and a if they did Killam
then there would've been if we wanna go
on you know %uh a lot of his great work
says breakthroughs
well now they can really use that
arguing anymore I mean maybe they can
but a relevant piece to the puzzle is
that even he says of course somebody
should be able to choose
