BOOK REVIEW: ALAN GOLD

Headlong, by Susan Varga. University of Western Australia Press, $29.95

AS the once-rare problems of an ageing population become commonplace, society will have to come to terms with the prospect of more and more people wanting to put an end to the nightmare their lives have become.

Illness, depression and infirmity are not suitable companions to accompany us into our final years after a lifetime of activity.

Today we’re penalising those who assist their loved ones in releasing themselves from their pain by the act of suicide, but a time will have to come when our lawmakers, ethicists and religious leaders come to see assisted suicide as an act of generous tenderness rather than the crime of murder.
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