|
|
Maryland Right to Life, Inc. 420 Chinquapin Round Rd. Suite 2-I Annapolis, MD 21401 Phones: (410) 269-6397
Need pregnancy help? Find a Pregnancy Center |
|
End of Life Issues — Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
The loss of respect for human life has now reached the other end of the age spectrum, and arguments in favor of euthanasia have become commonplace.
Euthanasia proponents say they want to eliminate suffering by “allowing” the terminally ill to “die with dignity.” Unfortunately, however, the “terminally ill” have not been the only ones to fall victim to their misplaced compassion. Incidents of nonvoluntary euthanasia (ending the life of someone who is incompetent to request it) and even involuntary euthanasia (ending the life of someone who clearly wants to live) have become disturbingly frequent. Efforts to legalize assisted suicide (helping someone to take their own life) are meeting with success in many areas.
If a young healthy person expresses a desire to die, this is recognized as depression and immediate assistance is given. An elderly person, or someone with a disability, who expresses the same wish should be treated with the same respect. To do otherwise is not compassion, but discrimination.
What's Wrong with Assisted Suicide?
Suicide has long been recognized as a cry for help — a last act of desperation. To “assist” someone in taking his or her own life is the ultimate betrayal. It says to the hurting person, a person who feels that his or her life has no value—“You are right. You have no value. You would, in fact, be better off dead.”
Pro-life groups and organizations concerned with the elderly and the rights of persons with diabilities are rightfully concerned that assisted suicide promotes the concept that death is preferable to life with a disability and that the loss of a subjective “quality of life” reduces a person’s value to something less than that of a human being.
Do we truly help the suffering person by assisting with his or her suicide? Or is assisted suicide actually an act of selfishness, intended to relieve society of the “burden” of sharing the person's suffering and doing everything possible to allieviate it until natural death ensues?
Legalized abortion had led to a society that sees as a commodity. We value lives that are productive or have potential, and we turn our backs on those who are weak, unproductive, or in pain.
Adopting this view threatens to put societal pressure on the medically vulnerable to end their lives rather than to receive treatment or compassionate care — because continued care may constitute a “burden” for those around them.
In Oregon, where assisted suicide has been legal for some years, the top five reasons that people give for wanting to end their lives are: loss of autonomy, inability to participate in activities, loss of control of bodily functions, loss of dignity, and fear of being a burden to others. (For more information, visit the Oregon RTL website.)
How sad that we now think of suicide as a right instead of the ultimate tragedy! Instead of assisting others to end their lives, we should show true compassion by standing by them, doing everything possible to alleviate pain and fear, and showing them that they are loved and valued to the end.
Everyone has heard about Terri Schiavo, the disabled woman in Florida who was starved and dehydrated to death in 2005, after her husband stated that she would not have wanted to be “kept alive” under such circumstances. However, many people do not realize that Terri was not dying, nor was she being “kept alive.” With proper care, she might have lived for years; perhaps, with treatment, she might have improved.
The Schiavo case points out a very real danger. Today, “medical treatment” has been redefined to include food and water. Any patient who needs assistance to receive nutrition might be at risk for being starved and dehydrated to death, if a health care provider or a family member decides that “medical treatment” should be discontinued.
The laws of all but 10 states leave patients vulnerable to involuntary withdrawal of medical treatment — including food and water, if a health care provider decides that the patient's “quality of life” is too low to warrant continued treatment. Maryland, at this time, is one of the 10 states that does protect the right of patients to receive wanted medical treatment — and requires health care providers to continue treatment pending transfer to another medical facility, if a hospital wants to discontinue care against the wishes of a patient or the patient's family.
Should You Have an Advance Directive?
When you enter a hospital or nursing care facility today, you are asked whether you have signed an advance directive or a “living will.” An advance directive can protect you in the event you are unable to make health care decisions for any reason.
Health care facilities in Maryland are required to make you aware of your right to have an advance directiive. However, you cannot be forced to sign one as a condition of receiving medical treatment.
The term “living will” often refers to a document that states that you DO NOT want to receive lifesaving medical care. If you sign a generic “living will,” you may be deprived of needed medical care (including food and water) in the event you become temporarily or permanently incapacitated.
The Maryland Advance Directive Will to Live Form is a pro-life alternative to a generic living will. It provides for a “general presumption for lifeÆ and enables you to give specific instructions regarding treatment that may be withdrawn when your death is imminent.
In addition to an advance director, you may want to appoint a health care proxy — a close family member who has a thorough understanding of your values and wishes, that you authorize to make decisions on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated.
92 years old and still enjoying life!
| Maryland Right to Life • 420 Chinquapin Round Rd., Suite 2-I • Annapolis, MD 21401 • 410-269-6397 • 301-858-8304• www.mdrtl.org |