The Case for Assited Suicide
Teddy Kulmala
Issue date: 1/24/10 Section: News and Opinion
I agree; life is a very precious thing.
I am unashamedly pro-life and believe that abortion is only permissible in few, if any, cases. But, how is it that these same Christians who preach about the sanctity of life, and the importance of forgiveness, whole-heartedly support the death penalty? When we execute an inmate, are we not killing a perfectly healthy human being that God has not yet called home? Aren't we instead choosing "an eye for an eye" over "forgiveness"? Aren't we "playing God" and deciding that it's time for this person to die? It boils down to the separation of church and state. Not everyone shares the same Christian beliefs as us conservatives and libertarians. So, not everyone views euthanasia as sinful or depraved.
Another common argument against euthanasia is that it conflicts with a physician's responsibility to their patients. The Hippocratic Oath-a promise by new doctors to ethically practice medicine-says, "I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients…and I will do no harm or injustice to them." This begs the question, "What is harm?" Well, allow me to answer that with another question: What is life? What exactly are we protecting? By keeping a dying person on a feeding tube, or a comatose patient on a ventilator, they are technically living. Their body is functioning biologically, but how much satisfaction are they getting from their life? While doctors are preserving biological function, only the patient can decide to what extent they can live their life from a hospital bed. But, if they want to fight a disease to the bitter end, they still have that choice.
Similarly, the medical side of this controversy brings up a lot of red tape, for example, deciding if a patient indeed has shot at living a happy, fulfilling life after overcoming an illness. Doctors can't simply execute every cancer or Alzheimer's patient to spare them misery or to cut corners on treatment. Additionally, a physician must verify that the patient is indeed suffering from a deteriorating, terminal illness and not just someone who's clinically depressed and seeking to end their life.
I am unashamedly pro-life and believe that abortion is only permissible in few, if any, cases. But, how is it that these same Christians who preach about the sanctity of life, and the importance of forgiveness, whole-heartedly support the death penalty? When we execute an inmate, are we not killing a perfectly healthy human being that God has not yet called home? Aren't we instead choosing "an eye for an eye" over "forgiveness"? Aren't we "playing God" and deciding that it's time for this person to die? It boils down to the separation of church and state. Not everyone shares the same Christian beliefs as us conservatives and libertarians. So, not everyone views euthanasia as sinful or depraved.
Another common argument against euthanasia is that it conflicts with a physician's responsibility to their patients. The Hippocratic Oath-a promise by new doctors to ethically practice medicine-says, "I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients…and I will do no harm or injustice to them." This begs the question, "What is harm?" Well, allow me to answer that with another question: What is life? What exactly are we protecting? By keeping a dying person on a feeding tube, or a comatose patient on a ventilator, they are technically living. Their body is functioning biologically, but how much satisfaction are they getting from their life? While doctors are preserving biological function, only the patient can decide to what extent they can live their life from a hospital bed. But, if they want to fight a disease to the bitter end, they still have that choice.
Similarly, the medical side of this controversy brings up a lot of red tape, for example, deciding if a patient indeed has shot at living a happy, fulfilling life after overcoming an illness. Doctors can't simply execute every cancer or Alzheimer's patient to spare them misery or to cut corners on treatment. Additionally, a physician must verify that the patient is indeed suffering from a deteriorating, terminal illness and not just someone who's clinically depressed and seeking to end their life.
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