I would like to write my
thoughts about the issue of Euthanasia, or the right to assisted suicide. Part
of the reason why I am motivated to do so is because I have been thinking quite
somewhat about the issue, and another part is because I come across blog posts
by fellow Christians who strongly oppose the legalisation of Euthanasia.
The brief summary of
thoughts on euthanasia is that it should be legalised, but strictly regulated
so that the option of euthanasia is only available to the genuinely dire and
necessary cases. I don’t think that there are any stronger case for providing
the option for euthanasia than when one reads about cases of patients with
really insufferable diseases that torments them to no ends and with no respite
until they die. For example, I once read of this case of a man with the
well-known neurodegenerative disease, ALS, who requested to be given the option
of assisted suicide, but was denied that option by the court. The way he died
was by suffocation from choking on his saliva to death. I really can’t identify
when conservatives argue that euthanasia should not be allowed because it
infringes upon the principle of sanctity of life, or the right to life. Try
saying that to those people suffering from these painful terminal illnesses
pleading that they be given the option to end their own lives. “I know you are
undergoing a lot of pain and want to die, but I am not going to allow you to,
because principle of sanctity of life. You can choke on your saliva to death
for all I care, or writhe in agony while the cancer eats away at you, but nope,
no assisted suicide for you, because, well, principle of sanctity of life.” I
am not sure whether conservatives who make these arguments are aware how cruel
and unsympathetic their arguments sound, perhaps almost to the point of being
silly. That is the problem of taking some principle as absolute and extrapolating
them all the way I guess. It may sound rational, but only if you subscribe to
the same paradigm of these principles being absolute. My thoughts is that the
principle of sanctity of life, while a principle that should be accorded great
weight, has to be considered together with other factors, notwithstanding the
least, the principle of consent and dignity of life. If a patient is suffering
from a really painful, terminable illness, and no other treatment options are
able to cure or alleviate such pains, then perhaps, assisted suicide should be
warranted with the patient’s consent.
The other argument
conservatives raise is that such options are prone to abuse. I can agree with
that, but isn’t this easily addressed by ensuring that certain regulatory
features are in place? For one, there needs to be consent. For two, the illness
must be recognised as being terminable, with all other forms of treatment
options exhausted. Perhaps a more restrictive approach could employ a list
regulating kinds of illnesses where the option of assisted suicide is
available. Perhaps the regulatory issues are more complicated, but I am sure
that they can be further refined. But to do away completely with the option of
assisted suicide simply because of these regulatory issues seems to swing to
the conservative extreme to me. While I identify with conservatives on a number
of issues, euthanasia is not one of them. I hope that those conservatives who
oppose euthanasia can somehow take on a more sympathetic view if they should
consider their own personal susceptibility to such debilitating and tormenting
illnesses. They might one day wish the option of assisted suicide is available
to them should they find themselves beset with such illnesses someday, but find
that it isn’t because they had opposed it their entire lives, and now find that
those they had encouraged to oppose euthanasia similarly oppose them too from resorting
to such an option at a time when they most wish it for themselves.
