Is euthanasia wrong?
Reasons why euthanasia wrong
The so-called 'last right.' The inevitable and natural follow up to abortion. Euthanasia follows abortion as certainly as night follows day. When people speak of the philosophical aspects of euthanasia, they will inevitably return again and again to the central focus of the issue.
Direct vs. Passive Euthanasia
Before any intelligent discussion on euthanasia may proceed, the critical differences between direct euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and natural death must be precisely defined. Note that the pro-euthanasia lobby has made much of its gains by deliberately confusing people by blurring the lines between direct and passive euthanasia and a natural death. It is essential for anti-euthanasia activists to know these terms intimately, or they will be confused and ineffective in their efforts. Direct euthanasia is action taken for the purpose of hastening death.
These measures may include lethal injection by a physician, or any one of a number of more clumsy methods undertaken by amateurs such as poisoning and suffocation. Passive euthanasia is action withheld for the purpose of hastening death. These measures would include the withholding or withdrawal of non-heroic measures, to include food, hydration, and oxygenation. One exception is noted below. Natural death means to allow a person to die in comfort and peace by withholding aggressive treatment that would only cause pain and lengthen the person's lifespan by a very modest or insignificant amount. Note that, if the same treatment were withheld from a person whose lifespan would be greatly lengthened by it, such action would instead be passive euthanasia.
Reason 1: Euthanasia is Forever
"When I visited the starving people in Ethiopia, I could hardly have imagined that providing them with food and water, even though artificially brought in from the Western world at tremendous expense, would be considered 'medical treatment.'"
Cardinal John J. O'Connor
Introduction
It is a curious fact that most pro-euthanasia activists are opposed to capital punishment, primarily because mistakes can be made when administering the death penalty. In other words, once a person has been executed, not even the most conclusive proof of his innocence can bring him back to life. Precisely the same reasoning may be used to oppose euthanasia. There are literally scores of medical cases on record where people have been judged to be "irreversibly comatose," and then have awakened to lead perfectly normal lives. In fact, it is safe to say that there are many more people who have awakened from 'irreversible' comas than there are innocent people who have been executed. The "Right to Die" is not a right - it is the taking away of all possible rights.
Dead men don't choose.
A few cases where euthanasia was considered but rendered moot when the patient in question recovered are outlined below.
Teisa Franklin. This little 21-month old girl ingested a huge quantity of anti-depressant drugs on February 4, 1988, and lapsed into a deep coma. After a rather cursory examination, doctors at the Mercy Hospital pronounced her clinically brain dead and stated that she would be a good candidate for organ donation. However, only 18 hours after slipping into the coma, she began to recover, and, on February 11, only one week after the near-fatal incident, she was released from the hospital. Erin Shanahan, Mercy Hospital's perplexed head pediatric nurse, said that "We never would have guessed it would turn out like this."
Leslie Bond. "Girl Eyed as Potential Organ Donor Now Doing Fine." National Right to Life News, March 24, 1988, page 11.
This is precisely why the euthanasia of comatose persons is such a dangerous practice.
Scott and Jeff Mueller. .These twin boys were born in 1981 sharing a leg and large intestine. They were fully developed from the waist up. The attending 'physician,' Petra Warren, decided that they were not worthy of life and attached a "DO NOT FEED" sign to their bassinet. Several nurses disobeyed this order, and fed the babies sugar water, which saved their lives.
Front Line Updates. "Siamese Twin Scott Mueller Dies." National Right to Life News, May 2, 1985, page 4.
They were successfully separated at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital the following year. Scott died of heart problems in 1984, but Jeff is thriving and lives a normal lifestyle. Predictably, the 'parents' and the 'doctor' were let off scott-free.
They were successfully separated at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital the following year. Scott died of heart problems in 1984, but Jeff is thriving and lives a normal lifestyle. Predictably, the 'parents' and the 'doctor' were let off scott-free.
Jacqueline Cole. Mrs. Cole awoke on May 15, 1986, 47 days after lapsing into a deep coma induced by a stroke. Her husband, a Presbyterian 'minister,' had gone to court on May 9 - just six days before - to have her disconnected from her life support systems. Fortunately for her, Baltimore Circuit Judge John Brynes refused his request. This 'minister' said that he had "no regrets" at trying to allow his wife to die.
Leslie Bond. "Starvation Order Hastily Rescinded As Carrie Coons Awakens From So-Called "Irreversible" PVS." National Right to Life News, April 27, 1989
Michelle Odette. Marie Odette Henderson was 26 weeks pregnant when she was declared brain-dead on June 7, 1986, after suffering a stroke three days earlier. Despite the fact that she was carrying a viable baby, Miss Henderson's parents decided to allow her and her baby to die by disconnecting her from her life support systems. Henderson's fiance, Derrick Poole, decided to fight for his baby's life and obtained a court order barring Marie's disconnection until after the baby was delivered. Dr. Donald Dyson delivered a healthy baby girl at 33 weeks gestation. Michelle Odette's weight was 4 pounds, 5 ounces. Marie Henderson was then disconnected from her life support systems and died three hours later. However, she lives on in her child.
Michelle Odette. Marie Odette Henderson was 26 weeks pregnant when she was declared brain-dead on June 7, 1986, after suffering a stroke three days earlier. Despite the fact that she was carrying a viable baby, Miss Henderson's parents decided to allow her and her baby to die by disconnecting her from her life support systems. Henderson's fiance,
Derrick Poole, decided to fight for his baby's life and obtained a court order barring Marie's disconnection until after the baby was delivered. Dr. Donald Dyson delivered a healthy baby girl at 33 weeks gestation. Michelle Odette's weight was 4 pounds, 5 ounces. Marie Henderson was then disconnected from her life support systems and died three hours later. However, she lives on in her child. Carrie Coons.
Carrie A. Coons, The doctors were all ready. 79-year old grandfather Harold Cybulski of Barry's Bay, Ontario, had been pronounced "brain dead and comatose," and the experts who pronounced him so stood by to disconnect his life support systems just as soon as his family said their last goodbyes. When his two-year old grandson ran into the room and yelled "Grandpa!," Cybulski woke up, sat up, and picked up the little boy! Six months later, he was leading a completely normal life, to include driving the new car he had been looking forward to buying before he became comatose. Cybulski's doctors could find "no explanation" for his instant recovery.
Harold Cybulski. The doctors were all ready. 79-year old grandfather Harold Cybulski of Barry's Bay, Ontario, had been pronounced "brain dead and comatose," and the experts who pronounced him so stood by to disconnect his life support systems just as soon as his family said their last goodbyes. When his two-year old grandson ran into the room and yelled "Grandpa!," Cybulski woke up, sat up, and picked up the little boy! Six months later, he was leading a completely normal life, to include driving the new car he had been looking forward to buying before he became comatose. Cybulski's doctors could find "no explanation" for his instant recovery.
Cybulski's case is described in "A Little Child Shall Lead Us." Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS, Summer 1990, page 4
Reason 2: Euthanasia Sets a Bad Example
The Payback Is Coming
Regardless of whether or not we like it, our primary function as adults in this society is to set the example for younger and less experienced persons, even if we have no children ourselves. After all, what we teach the young will largely determine how they run the world after they inherit it, and this, in turn, will determine what kind of world our grandchildren will inherit. What we teach the young will also determine how they treat us when we are elderly and infirm.
Impacts On Teen Suicide
The teenage suicide rate in this country is a tragic situation which seems to have no end in stopping. Experts in the demographics of suicide (suicidologists) already call this situation 'epidemic.' What kind of an example does Curt Cobain or other famous people who commit suicide give to teenagers when they kill themselves? How about the young girl whose pet dies? Or who becomes pregnant too soon? Or the boy who doesn't make the local hurling team? Teenagers don't respond to a double standard. They don't accept the adage "Do as I say, not as I do." If euthanasia becomes legal and accepted by society, we must expect our 'epidemic' of teen suicide to become a 'pandemic,' with hundreds of additional cases per year. How will we react to a pandemic of teen suicide without appearing (and being) grossly hypocritical?