The debate; is it right?
There has been a lot of debate on the subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide and whether it is right or wrong. It is a very emotive topic and one which produces a lot of passion and feeling about the ethics and morals of such an issue. Lets first look at whether it’s right.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are two slightly different ways of releasing someone from life. Euthanasia is when a person is put out of their misery, for whatever reason, by someone else, whether in the form of pills or a plastic bag or pillow or some other means. Assisted suicide is when the person is given the means to end their life themselves.
We all know that murder is wrong but is euthanasia in the same league? If a person is suffering terribly through illness or old age and if they are in a stable frame of mind, should they not be given the choice of whether they live or die?
As someone who has seen at first hand the suffering an old person can go through, I can completely understand why someone would wish to end their life. Let’s look at a couple of cases involving elderly people where euthanasia might be an option. These are real people so therefore I have not used their real names.
Doris:
Doris is an eighty five year old widow who used to be a physiotherapist and a keen dancer. Now, she is in a care home and suffers badly from arthritis. She uses a frame to get around but finds it incredibly painful and difficult. She also has bad asthma and needs oxygen occasionally when she suffers a bad attack. When she has a bad attack, she gets very scared because her breathing is so laboured. When in her room one day, she mentioned to me that she prays she doesn’t see another Christmas because she is in so much pain and her quality of life is low. She knows what she wants and what she wants is to be allowed to die with dignity. Should she be given that right?
Mavis:
Mavis is eighty nine and a widow. She is also in a care home. She used to be a brilliant gardener who has won awards for her displays and on her dresser in her room are photos of a well dressed woman smiling as she accepts her award. Now she is barely recognisable as the woman in the photos. She suffers from dementia and weighs less then seven stone. She rarely speaks and never smiles and spends her days wandering from her bed to the lounge and back again. When she does speak, she talks of herself in the third sense, i.e.; ‘Mavis wants a biscuit’, or ‘Mavis wants to go to bed’. She has no quality of life. Should she be given the right to die? This is a different case because Mavis has dementia and therefore is not in her right mind but she is not living. She is waiting to die.
There are countless other cases that I could write about and all of them involve people who are suffering and are tired of living, tired of the daily struggle and indignity that old age or illness brings. Euthanasia would release them.
Is it wrong?
The word, ‘kill’ means to ‘cause the death of’, so euthanasia would be killing someone and killing someone is, of course, illegal and morally wrong. This is the cold fact of the matter and there is no getting away from it. The only countries that allow Euthanasia and assisted suicide are; Oregon, the Netherlands and Belgium. It is illegal everywhere else.
The problem with Euthanasia is that there has to be one hundred percent assurance from the afflicted person that he/she wants to die so therefore that person has to know their mind. If a person has dementia then that is not possible. Another reason to take into consideration is the person’s moods. How a person feels from day to day varies, so while on one day they may feel like ending their lives, on another day they may not feel so depressed with the situation and may have changed their minds.
This is different of course if that person is hooked up to a machine and wishes for that machine to be switched off or for medical treatment to be withdrawn. The law allows that.
Dying with Dignity.
To conclude this article, I believe that while euthanasia is illegal and some may say, immoral, it should still be considered as one day a viable option for people who have nothing but suffering in their lives. The law would have to be very strict of course and with various procedures and rules but to see someone suffer and with no choice but to wait to die then maybe euthanasia should be given to them as another choice.
