A Blog-like Entity

28 oct 06

Euthanasia, any thoughts, ideas, and feelings on it?

i tend to give the standard right-to-die party line; i don't think this topic merits a whole lot of discussion, except to convince the obstinate of the obvious. i used to think "euthanasia", when i heard it mentioned, was some "feed the children"-type charity foundation, as in "youth in asia".

i find it telling that we euthanize beloved pets for their own good, because we don't want them to spend the rest of their lives suffering, and yet for some reason we balk at doing this to another human being, for whom our love is ostensibly even greater. i guess it's to be expected -- death is a big deal to us, and isn't taken lightly. so we tiptoe around it, and are afraid to act in good faith and good conscience for fear of committing an error or sin. furthermore, the notion that we don't have the right to control our own death stems in part from the belief that god created us -- that he "owns" us, in a way, because we're his little projects. "only god can take a life".

if someone is sick, isn't going to get better, is in pain, and wants to die, then pass them the yellow pill; a no-brainer, really. some counseling is probably in order, to make sure the sick person understands that along with giving up all pain he's relinquishing any and all hopes of joy. if even with this understanding the sick person wants to go ahead, then i cannot see any reason not to aid him in totality.

chronic mental illness raise some tough questions. what about the teenage depressive who wants to hang herself? no well person is going to say "sure, go ahead -- if you want to die, then i'll help you kill yourself", because we have high hopes that she's going to get better. if there were someone who was clinically, miserably depressed, and would remain so despite any treatment, i would most certainly accept euthanasia as a solution, but depression and mental suffering are almost always treatable. furthermore, it's extremely difficult, and probably impossible, to say which cases might or might not be treatable, so clearly here we play on the side of caution.

but isn't it the right of someone to say "i don't want to keep trying new treatments -- i just want to give up"? obviously. after all, in cases where a substantial number of people would support euthanasia (a cancer or AIDs patient in intense chronic pain, without feasible treatment options), we rely on the self-report of the patient. so, we have to believe someone when they say "pain has exceeded pleasure in my life, and i want to end it", regardless of the cause. but this is in fact irrelevant, because suicide is a right and an option a person must always have, regardless of any and all circumstances. just in case you haven't seen it before, i'll fish out and print one of my favorite nietzsche quotes (i believe for the third or fourth time):

There is a certain right by which we may deprive a man of life, but none by which we may deprive him of death -- neechee

this quote is getting over-played by "right to die" advocates; i'd better watch it. but nietzche, in all of this translation's verbal panache, is saying "people have a right to die". doesn't this seem obvious?

that said, suicide is often a very bad decision -- "a permanent solution to a temporary problem". but it's the right of the one making the decision to go ahead and make it.

euthanasia debates, though, usually concern only those without the means or ability to kill themselves, and who want help in doing so. in these cases, it becomes a moral responsibility not only to refrain from interfering, but to actively end suffering.

how do you feel about it? answer below.