The subject of euthanasia periodically rears it's head; the Terry Schiavo case a couple of years ago and Dr. Kevorkian and his death machine many years ago were all front page stories.
Euthanasia.com lists the pros and cons:
Arguments For Euthanasia:
It provides a way to relieve extreme pain
It provides a way of relief when a person's quality of life is low
Frees up medical funds to help other people
It is another case of freedom of choice
Arguments Against Euthanasia:
Euthanasia devalues human life
Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment
Physicians and other medical care people should not be involved in directly causing death
There is a "slippery slope" effect that has occurred where euthanasia has been first been legalized for only
the terminally ill and later laws are changed to allow it for other people or to be done non-voluntarily.
There was a time when I supported euthanasia because I felt that people in extreme pain had the right to choose to die but the idea that it could become a way for insurance companies to save on health care or greedy relatives to collect on inheritances does give one second thoughts. I always wondered why the people who called Dr. Kervorkian couldn't just take a bottle of pills or shoot themselves if they were that hellbent on dying and what did Dr. Kervorkian get out of it? Was he motivated by helping others fullfill their wish to die or something more sinister? With the large number of elderly people and limited resources that we are looking at with the baby boomer generation it is possible that euthanasia could become a way to cull the population? There is a movie,Solent Green, with Charlton Heston that probably only a couple of my fellow baby boomers in class have seen. In the movie, the world is running out of resources and a new food product called solent green is introduced which turns out to be what the old people are being killed and turned into more or less. Should doctors even consider mercy killing considering their hypocratic oath? Isn't that a conflict of interest, do no harm unless the patient is requesting it?
You may be thinking about the option of a living will:
The following site has great information including a blank living will specific to the state of Alabama:
http://www.caringinfo.org/UserFiles/File/Alabama.pdf
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About Me
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- pixiegirrl
- I live near Mobile Bay with my husband and four dogs; Higgy, Eliza, Alfred and Mischa. I love vintage and although it is just me and my husband in our decent sized house, I am running out of space to indulge my addiction, uhm I mean passion. I am only 45 years old. I still have a good 40 years left to acquire seemingly useless items from garage sales and thrift stores. Perhaps I can be on the next season of A&E's Hoarders. Just kidding I only hoard good stuff not empty pizza boxes and the like.
4 comments:
You know that's my fear Sara, that the government will find it easier to just let the old and those unable to care for themselves die because it would be cheaper. I understand people suffer and live with pain and they should have a right to self determination, however, when it comes to money our government may make that decision for them even if it isn't what they want. I'm sure it will be called something else, or maybe not even have a name at all, services for the elderly may slowly disappear.
This is probably one of my favorite topics, in the aspect that it relates to pro-life issues. So many people want to conceptualize a pro-life stance into a singularly anti-abortion stance. I am pro-life, but I don't think we should impose that on anyone, everyone has the right to make their own choices. Euthanasia is one of those in between issues it seems like that no one ever really talks about. The Terry Schiavo case was going on while I was in college and I think all of my friends had different opinions on it. Anyway, I enjoyed your post.
The topic of Euthanasia has always been very diffcult. When I first heard the word, I had no idea what it meant. When I discovered the meaning I could not empathize with this view no matter how hard I tried. When some one posed the question about if I was diagnosed with cancer and had to recive painful treatments what would I do? I could see their point of view. No one wants to be in pain and suffer. Everyone wants relief. Gaining relief in this way was my only resistance to this idea.
I heard you say that you once supported euthanasia. I don't know wether I do or don't. On one hand, I feel that people have the right to make their own decisions. On the other hand, I think that someone else should be able to make the decision when their life and thinking are off balance. I never thought about the saving of money for insurance, but now that you mention that fact it does shed a new light. Thanks for helping me brainstorm, but right now I still am not able to say one way or another.
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