In some countries the Supreme Court has ruled that docters may disconnect a mechanical respirator that is keeping the comatose patient alive. A case was brought by Joseph and Julia Quinlan, who maintained that the machine was preventing their daughter, Karen Anne, from dying “with decency and dignity.” Disconnecting her from the machine, the girl died without ever having regained consciousness. Has Medical Science fallen so low that the passion for saving precious live has completely diminished? The day will come when no progress regarding Medicine and cure will be achieved.
Similarly, the death of a patient can imply financial gain for the relatives. While the patient is fighting against a fatal disease, his relatives are often fighting among themselves to decide the speediest way to ‘put an end to the poor man’s suffering’ – in other words, the quickest way to get his money…
…an old and very weak person could feel like they are a burden on their family to have to financially, socially and medically support the patient, which can lead to the patient’s request for suicide in the form of mercy killing. Have we, our children, the world not realised that today if our elders are suffering and need our help then tomorrow we too will become old and will need our children’s help as well.
Another elucidation is those who oppose legalizing euthanasia argue that medically justifying mercy killing might lead to the kinds of abuses that occurred in Nazi Germany. Many believed that this would never happen, yet a survey in 1995 of 879 doctors, that worked in adult intensive-care units in the US, showed that 96% actually have stopped, or withheld, life support treatments from patients when further treatments seemed useless. Some critical care docters have admitted to pulling the plug on life support, even when the patient objected.
Euthanasia in not a solution to pain and suffering as it has far too many drawbacks. It is a crime against life. Life is not always a bed of roses, but when it shows its thorny side, we should not creep away into the shadows to shield ourselves, but we should fight those thorns to make life better for others. “Only God can give life and only God should take it away.” Remember that many people have laid down their lives to broaden the horizons of knowledge. Don’t make murder legal by giving it the false name of mercy killing.
-Garima Singh