BENGALURU: Activist HB Karibasamma has urged the state government to implement and communicate a clear legal process and issue guidelines for euthanasia at the earliest.
The 86-year-old woman fighting for this cause for over a decade, stated that the right to live with dignity must also include the right to die with dignity in cases of unbearable suffering. She said the government has failed to take the legal framework on euthanasia to the public, even years after recognising it.
Karibasamma stressed that euthanasia procedures must be made available in government hospitals, which she described as the only accessible institutions for the poor. She pointed out that thousands of poor and elderly people, lacking financial and social support, continue to suffer from multiple ailments, spending their final years in extreme pain and helplessness, often confined to their beds and dependent on others even for basic needs. People remain confused about where to apply for euthanasia and which hospitals to approach, leading many elderly persons to die in agony without clarity or assistance, she said.
She appealed to the state government to issue clear guidelines and not “invite the curse of the suffering elderly” by delaying action.
Sharing her personal circumstances, Karibasamma said she is battling several illnesses and no longer wishes to continue a life of constant physical struggle. She said she has already submitted medical reports and sought permission for euthanasia from the Davanagere Deputy Commissioner, the local court, the Governor, and both the State and Central governments. She said that if permission is denied, she would end her life on behalf of crores of elderly people.