Jumat, 07 September 2012
Autumn
Buzzell
November
22, 1999
Euthanasia
and Assisted Suicide: It's Murder in the First Degree
On June 4, 1990, Janet Adkins
committed suicide. She killed herself under the supervision of a man named Jack
Kevorkian. Again and again, Kevorkian set up machines and killed patients that
were supposedly terminally ill. He escaped punishment for years, but on March
26, 1999, Kevorkian was incarcerated for second-degree murder. (Online,99) He had developed many friends and many enemies. One of his
followers was a woman who had developed coronary artery disease. Her name was
Donna White. She thought about suicide often, especially when her pain was
incredibly intense. Help found her before euthanasia did. A hospice care
facility heard about her plot to commit suicide, and they found help for her.
They provided therapy for her suicidal thoughts and severe depression, and they
also provided her with the medication to keep her pain free. She no longer
follows Kevorkian's ideals and is against him instead. (Shapiro and Bowermaster, 94) Over 52 patients were killed in
"Dr." Kevorkian's presence. (Online, 99) What if they could have found the help that they needed?
Euthanasia is ending one's life if
one has a terminal disease is an incurable condition, and is done by a lethal
injection. Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide began in ancient Rome and Greece.
They believed that it was okay in certain situations to allow a person to die
or to help a person die. This was often the case with the elderly in these
cultures. Certain religions are against euthanasia. The Christian, Jew, and
Islamic religions all cling to the fact that life is sacred and should not be
taken away. In some cultures, helping someone to die is the same thing as homicide,
and is treated so in a court of law. (Encarta, 98)
Passive euthanasia, or negative
euthanasia, is where a doctor or another person does nothing to prevent death,
therefore allowing the person to die. Passive euthanasia is not always wrong.
It is allowing a person's body to take a natural course of death. Active
euthanasia, or positive euthanasia, is when a doctor or another person takes
direct action to cause death. (Grolier, 98) Active euthanasia is extremely wrong. It is murder and
should not be allowed.
Assisted suicide and active
euthanasia is not natural and is extremely unethical. Often times, the effects
of painful diseases or severe depression are the cause of suicidal thoughts
that result in euthanasia. Jonathan Gould and Lord Craigmyle, authors of Your Death Warrant?,
put the suffering of pain in perspective. They say, "Pain and suffering
are inescapable at times in life, and sometimes attend its end" but
"Pain, it is to be remembered. . . Generally pain can be considered
natural and wholesome although unpleasant." There are ways to take away
the pain that accompanies deaths. There are so many more choices than poisoning
the body unto death. In fact, "medical killing of sick persons would
create far more distress, suffering and pain, directly and indirectly, than it
would relieve." (Gould and Craigmyle, 71) The number one rule of medicine is
that "doctors shall not kill". This regimen has been a priority since
the teachings of the well know physician, Hippocrates. (Shapiro and Bowermaster, 94) Some doctors often let their
murders slide behind the name of euthanasia. Kevorkian did that very thing. He
killed over 52 patients behind the name of euthanasia. By legalizing
euthanasia, the United States of America is setting licensed murderers out on
the street.
Those in support of euthanasia fight
for the right to "die with dignity". They argue that a lethal
injection is natural. One must argue with their ideals. Injecting a foreign
chemical into the body for the sole purpose of harming the body is not natural.
Euthanasia is, in fact, "intentionally making someone die, rather than
allowing that person to die naturally". (Online, 98) It is often found that those who argue for the right to
"die with dignity" are often the ones who are not terminally ill or
in the older generation. This fact was proven in a Harvard study that read,
"79 percent of those ages 18 to 34 believe a physician should be allowed
to give lethal injections to the terminally ill, but only 53 percent of the
older Americans agree." (Shapiro and Bowermaster, 94) Therefore, What are those that are
pro-euthanasia arguing for? For their future, or for the death of those who no
longer can serve their community?
Every once in a while, the older
generation of this country is pressured into selecting euthanization as their
course of death. Often times, the elder members of families feel as though they
are a burden and, sometimes, they are not of sound mind when they are given the
choice of euthanasia. One such instance of that is the case of Kate Cheyney.
She was one of the first to be euthanized in the state of Oregon. She was
diagnosed with cancer. Once the extreme discomfort set in, her daughter began
to press the subject of euthanasia. She was given a psychiatric evaluation to
ensure that she was of the right mind. Her psychiatrist could see that her
short-term memory was fading and dementia was setting in. Still, he signed her
waver and she died by physician assisted suicide. It was not the clean-cut
death of dignity that she underwent. It took over an hour of pain for her death
to be complete. (Barnett, 99) This illustration reveals one small, but important fact.
Though Mrs. Cheyney requested physician-assisted suicide, her daughter, who
felt as if her mother was a heavy burden, pressured her into the choice. Her
short-term memory was also failing, proving that she was not of right mind to
make that decision. One recent study showed that out of the people seeking
physician-assisted suicide, "75 percent cited fear of 'being a burden',
while only 35 percent gave 'experiencing severe pain" as a reason." (Shapiro, 96) But even the fact of the pain is irrelevant to most people.
Joseph Shapiro of U.S. News and World Report found that "five out of
six of the reasons a patient says he wants to die are something the medical
establishment can treat." Often a person with an ailment or disease is put
rest because of the burden that it can cause a family member. It was said by a
"Euthanasia Society's spokesman: 'Dying is still often an ugly business,
but where should we end up once we admitted the principle that a man may be
killed for the benefit of someone else?'" (Gould and Craigmyle, 71)
Those who are for euthanasia argue
that the psychiatric evaluations given to patients who are suspected to not be
of sound mind, solve the problem of whether or not they are able to choose the
"right to die". They also argue that family members of those who are
prepared to be euthanize are very supportive. When in fact, not all psychiatric
evaluations are complete or true, and not all patients are given an evaluation.
The fact is that family members are often supportive only if they choose
euthanasia or assisted suicide. The authors of the website, Euthanasia.com found that "emotional and psychological pressures
could become overpowering for depressed or dependent people. If the choice of
euthanasia is considered as good as a decision to receive care, many people
will feel guilty for not choosing death. Financial considerations, added to the
concern about 'being a burden,' could serve as powerful forces that would lead
a person to 'choose' euthanasia or assisted suicide." Therefore, it is
proven that family members and doctors often have persuasive powers over the
person in question.
The most important truth about
euthanasia, assisted suicide and mercy killing are all forms of murder and,
ultimately, homicide. It should be against both the law of the nation, and the
law of the heart, because it is unethical. "This issue touches medicine at
its very moral center; if this moral center collapses, if physicians become
killers, or are even merely licensed to kill, the profession&emdash;and,
therewith, each physician&emdash;will never again be worthy of trust and
respect, healer and comforter and protector of life in all its frailty. For if
medicine's power over life may be used equally to heal or to kill, the doctor
is no more a moral professional but rather a morally neutered technician."
(Opposing Viewpoints, 89) Unfortunately, physicians can
legally murder in the state of Oregon. Still, this quote applies to every
state. Physicians who can kill and can commit a homicidal crime, become loose
in their morals and accordingly lose their trust as a caretaker, a healer.
Committing this type of murder
devalues human life. These doctors act as gods instead of humans&emdash;
judging whether life or death shall prevail. The doctor's job is to heal, to
try as hard as they can to save the lives of those who are presented before
them. Doctors and nurses cannot be gods. Much of the time, they do not
understand that what the patient really needs in his or her last days is the
love and respect of those around them. In fact, in one study based on "600
ventilator-dependant adults with debilitating neuromuscular conditions"
who were asked "whether they were satisfied with their 'life as a whole,'
and fully 82 percent responded positively. Only 24 percent of doctors and
nurses predicted such positive answers."
Take for instance, Dr. Bry Benjamin.
Benjamin once gave out a lethal dose of medicine to an older couple suffering
from cancer. For years, he had to "wrestle with this ethical dilemma"
and ". . .his conscience. . . alone." (Mattos and Sachs, 96) He will never forget the death
sentence that he gave that elderly couple.
In closing, an unnatural death is
unethical and should not be permitted. It is the poisoning of a body and may be
performed by a licensed doctor. This doctor, a person committed to curing the
body of diseases and making it healthy, is committing murder. Murder that
should be charged as homicide in a court of law. Euthanasia is a fever that has
swept across the country, especially with Jack Kevorkian's aid. The country is
sick with "right to die" flu and it is time for the doctors of the
United States of America to heal them. They need to start with reorganizing
their morals and placing their patient's health and healing at the top of their
list. Eventually the country will begin to realize that life is much more
important than the emphasis they have been placing on death.
Bibliography
Unknown Author. "Euthanasia: Frequently Asked
Questions". 1998. [Online]. International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force at
Euthanasia.com. Date of download: November 21, 1999. Available: http://www.iaetf.org/faq.htm
Unknown Author. "Kevorkian Timeline". 1999.
[Online]. Euthanasia. Date of download: November 15, 1999. Available: http://www.angelfire.com/al/jefspage/index3.html
Barnett, Erin Hoover. "Is Mom Capable of Choosing to
Die?". 1999. [Online]. The Oregonian. Date of Download: November 15, 1999.
Available: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/99/10/st101719.html
Rosenbaum, Stuart E. and Baird,
Robert M. "Euthanasia: The Moral Issues". 1989. Opposing Viewpoints.
New York: Prometheus Books.
Shapiro, Joseph P. and Bowermaster,
David. "Death on Trial". U.S. News and World Report. April 25, 1994.
Pp. 31-39.
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