Euthanasia is ethical under certain circumstances. I wouldn’t agree it’s ethical to euthanize the infirm, the elderly, nor those who have chronic pain with non fatal illnesses. Having said that, I do believe if the person who is having chronic pain and will never get better no longer wishes to live, it’s his right to end his life and therefore his pain. I don’t believe it’s our right to end lives by euthanasia without the consent of the person wishing it ended.
How many of us would allow our family members to suffer for months with a terminal illness, knowing the person will never get better, instead they will become an unrecognizable shell of who they once were, yet would euthanize a beloved pet to prevent the very same situation? Are we really that cold and callous toward our fellow man?
We must ask ourselves who benefits from the pain of a loved one. Is it the hospital? The physicians? Technicians? Us? The hospital and technicians can rack up charge after charge the longer a patient stays alive no matter how many tubes and medical equipment have taken over that patient’s life.The physician benefits financially too, also he has a case to study in order to get better and better at detecting and treating terminal illnesses.
But what about us? How do we benefit? Actually the answer is quite selfish; we don’t or can’t say goodbye. Even though we know the person is suffering or so doped up on morphine he is literally starving to death, still we feel guilty even if we have the legal option to end this person’s life. ‘Only God can decide that’, we hear over and over from those who would allow the person to lie there day after day, week after week begging for someone to allow them to pass on. The God I know is a loving God and I don’t think He would want any of us to suffer unnecessarily, and nobody will ever convince me he would. What dignity or love is there in a death that’s slow and agonizing?
Who are we to decide what’s right for one and wrong for another? Our bodies are our own. We will answer to God, not to mandated, outdated laws. A legal document should be drawn up where a person may state whether he would like to have his life ended peacefully and with dignity should he become unable to think for himself, imminent death is near, and he is in pain whether treated with pain medicine or not. Ask anyone if they would like to spend the last moments of their lives suffering, then decide if it’s ethical to end that life at their own request.
