If sick people are thought of as not good enough to live, what’s to stop this violence spreading? If the ill have their lives stolen what will happen to the blind? What will happen to the deaf? What will happen to the handicapped?
As a community we have the responsibility to guard each others lives. It is vital we do not, under any circumstances, deny anyone the right to live, when we should allow them to live as long as possible. We must not destroy anybody’s life, especially the vulnerable or innocent. I believe in protection of life, and am against abortion, murder and euthanasia, so we can live our lives to the full.
If euthanasia had been legal 40 years ago, there would probably not have been as much progress in medicine or life support systems in hospitals today. This improvement has been possible as doctors and scientists have been trying to reduce suffering. If the pain had been terminated by letting the ill die we would never have known the effects of these diseases. If we had allowed euthanasia it would not have been so urgent to discover new treatments. If we accept euthanasia now we could delay research and new treatments for decades.
If a patient is unable to make the decision, the burden falls on the family. The risk with this is that the family may want the patient to stop suffering, someone who does not want to die does, and there’s nothing anyone can do to bring them back. The family also will put pressure on the patient subtly so they won’t carry the burden. The patient probably already feels guilty, but there is nothing they can say, pleading silently for their lives to go on.
There is no question that by letting the patient die on request, we shorten the period of suffering. But we also shorten their lives. Can you argue that the saving of pain is greater good than the saving of life? Or that presence of pain is worse than the loss of life? Of course, nobody likes to see a creature suffer, especially when the creature has requested a halt to the suffering. But we have to keep our priorities straight.
Pro-euthanasianists make it sound as though the extraordinary efforts made to keep people alive are not worthy of human beings. What could be more respectful of human life, than to keep life against all odds and against all hope?
All of life is a struggle and a gamble. Nobody knows what life will bring for us. We humans are noble when we continue in the face of the death. Our heroes are not those who have given up but those who have suffered. There is nothing humiliating about having a terrible disease, about screaming in pain, about wishing it would end. The shame lies in surrender.
