Airdate: Laura’s Choice

ABC TV Plus tonight screens the documentary Laura’s Choice in which 90 year old Laura Henkel asks to die with dignity.

This is a two part doco from Virgo Productions / Factor 30 Films with part 2 to air next week.

Laura Henkel is eccentric, outspoken, feisty and 90 years old. She has decided she wants to end her life on her own terms.

She does not have a terminal illness; she just wants to be in control of the process and be allowed to go with dignity. And she asks her daughter Cathy and granddaughter Sam, both filmmakers, to make a film about it.

As they struggle to come to terms with her choice, and discover conflicting views in the wider community, Laura applies to a clinic in Switzerland where her right to end her own life, with her family by her side, is legal.

She also questions why this major event in life needs to be somber and sad and plans a joyous farewell party. Laura’s Choice explores complex questions as three generations of women travel into uncharted territory and navigate a radical, dignified and highly controversial approach to dying.

Production credits: Directed by Sam Lara and Cathy Henkel. Produced by Sam Lara, Cathy Henkel, Ryan Hodgson & Melissa Kelly. Laura’s Choice is a Virgo Production film, in collaboration with Factor 30 Films.

Wednesday 17 March 8.45pm on ABC TV Plus.

End of Life Law in Australia