Pertemuan 14

Kasus: David Goodall
Pertemuan 14
David Goodall, Australia's oldest scientist, ends
his own life aged 104
• Goodall ate fish and chips and cheesecake and

listened to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in
final hours
• David Goodall singing and laughing the day
before his death
• Australia’s oldest scientist, David Goodall, has
ended his own life at a clinic in Switzerland,
surrounded by family and while listening to
Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
• The British-born 104-year-old professor was forced
to travel on a one-way ticket from his home in
Western Australia to Switzerland where liberal
assisted dying laws allowed him to end his life legally,
in contrast to Australia where it remains forbidden.
• In his final hours, Goodall enjoyed his favourite
dinner: fish and chips and cheesecake. And in his
final minutes, he listened to Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony, best known for its last movement Ode to
Joy, reportedly passing away shortly after the piece
of music finished.
• Family members were with Goodall until his death,
which was preceded by formal paperwork that visibly
frustrated the scientist, who said: “What are we
waiting for?”
• He was accompanied to the clinic of the Swiss
assisted dying organisation Life Circle by Dr Philip
Nitschke, the founder of the Australian right-to-die
group Exit International.
• To end his own life, Goodall had to turn a wheel that allowed
a lethal infusion to flow into his bloodstream through a
cannula on his arm. Nitschke said the professor did this “after
answering questions which said he knew who he was, where
he was and what he was about to do, and he answered these
questions with great clarity.
• “In fact his last words were: ‘This is taking an awfully
long time!’”
• Assisted dying, where patients take the final action
to end their lives, is legal in Canada, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, Switzerland and parts of the US.
• Though Goodall was not terminally ill, he had seen
his eyesight and mobility deteriorate considerably in
recent years and said that his life stopped being
enjoyable “five or 10 years ago”.
• The scientist requested that his body be donated to medicine
or, if that were not possible, that his ashes be scattered
locally in Switzerland. He wished to have no funeral,
remembrance service or ceremony, since he had “no belief in
the afterlife”.
• Goodall flew from Perth, where his daughter, son
and grandchildren also live, to France last week to
see relatives before arriving at the clinic in Liestal,
near Basel. His case caused controversy in Australia,
with doctors in Perth at one point threatening to
stop him flying to Switzerland.
• He spent his final full day exploring Basel University’s
botanic gardens with three of his grandchildren, who
said they were proud of his bravery in the face of
great public attention and were glad he would die on
his own terms.
• At his last press conference on Wednesday, Goodall
was in good spirits and sang a few bars of Ode to Joy
while wearing a jumper printed with the words
“ageing disgracefully”.
• He said he would have preferred to die in Australia
and previously voiced his resentment over the
country’s laws.
• “Luckily my family who are in various parts of Europe
and America have rallied round and come to see me,
and I welcome the opportunity to see them, which I
probably wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t pursued this
Swiss option,” he told journalists.
• He appeared bemused by public interest in his case.
“At my age, or less than my age, one wants to be
free to choose the death when the death is at an
appropriate time,” Goodall said.
• Exit International, which helped Goodall make the
trip, said it was unjust that one of Australia’s “oldest
and most prominent citizens should be forced to
travel to the other side of the world to die with
dignity”.
• “A peaceful, dignified death is the entitlement of all
who want it,” it said on its website on Monday. “And
a person should not be forced to leave home to
achieve it.”
• However, the Australian Medical Association’s
president, Dr Michael Gannon, says he was
concerned that the “suicide of someone who’s aged
100” was being celebrated.
• “What is the age at which we no longer celebrate
people continuing life?” he asked. “People like Dr
Goodall make a decision based on nothing more than
they’ve decided there’s nothing more to live for. I
think that’s a dangerous line to cross.”
Pertanyaan Diskusi
• 1. Rumuskanlah masalah moral yang
terkandung di dalam kasus Goodall!
• 2. Bagaimana pandangan etika wahyu atas
kasus ini?
• 3. Tunjukkanlah kelemahan pendirian etika
wahyu atas kasus ini!
• 4. Bagaimana pendirian Anda sendiri atas
kasus ini?
Komentar atas Kasus Goodall
Jika ada hak untuk hidup, mengapa tidak ada
hak untuk mati?
•1. Manusia memang dapat menentukan dirinya dalam
kebebasan, tetapi eksistensinya bukan hasil usahanya sendiri,
maka dia tidak berhak untuk mengakhirinya.
•2. Manusia memang memiliki kebebasan individu untuk
melakukan apapun, tetapi kebebasan itu hilang ketika dia
mengakhiri atau merusak hidupnya sendiri. Jadi, hak untuk mati
bertentangan dengan konsep kebebasan yang terkandung dalam
kata ‘hak’ itu.
• 3. Hak untuk mati tidak hanya berciri individual, melainkan
sosial. Sebelum hak itu berlaku, hak itu harus disetujui
masyarakat, maka hak yang terkesan sangat individual itu
ternyata juga sosial. Suatu masyarakat yang menyetujui hak
untuk mati akan bertentangan dengan tujuan sosial
masyarakat, yakni: saling menolong sesama untuk hidup
(bukan untk mati).
Catatan: Ada kondisi-kondisi tertentu yang memungkinkan

eutanasia boleh dilakukan secara pasif (tidak aktif).

Pertemuan 14

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pertemuan 14

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pertemuan 14

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kasus: David Goodall

• Goodall ate fish and chips and cheesecake and

Catatan: Ada kondisi-kondisi tertentu yang memungkinkan

You might also like