Writer Arthur Koestler chose death when he thought that his productive life was over. He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease as well as leukaemia. He was a member of an organisation called Exit which supported people’s “right to die with dignity.” Koestler was 77 when he gulped down an overdose of barbiturate tablets. He didn’t want to continue the agony of his existence. I defend his decision to end his life with dignity. But I don’t accept what his wife Cynthia did. She was in her 50s when she chose to die along with her husband. She loved him so much. That was the reason. Was it necessary to end her life just because her beloved man was dying? I don’t want to judge her. Maybe, she would find life unbearable without her man. She could have given it a try, I think. I defend euthanasia with my whole heart in cases like Koestler’s. But not in those like Cynthia’s. When one is suffering from a terminal illness and it is certain that there is no chance of recovery at all, one s
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