Have been reading quite a lot of articles on Euthanasia/mercy killing these days. There is a faction of ppl who argue that it is interfering in God's plans by killing those ppl and this is equivalent to murder committed by any third rate criminal. Is it so??
Lets take the case of Joel (fictional character) - he is suffering from a disease which has no cure. It is the kind of disease leading to slow and eventual degradation of the entire body putting him through hell lot of pain & suffering. Every day he is alive is a equivalent to putting him on a pyre and burning him. The doctors have given him a maximum of a year to live - a year of pain, suffering, boils, swellings, rashes and all possible ailments one's mind can think of. In his little left sanity, he requests the doctor to finish his story - khallas!!! Now, should the doctor take pity on him and kill him freeing his soul of the endless pain or should he continue looking after him, treating him and giving "un-needed" hopes to his parents/relatives etc???
Countries like Netherlands, belgium and Switzerland have come to terms with this physician-assisted killing but are they too pro-modern?? Clamouring for the "right to die" the pro-euthanasia group strongly believe that every person has the right to die in dignity rather than suffer through it!!!Doctors in UK who are anti-euthanasia have voiced slogans like "Care, Not Killing" showing that they still attach themselvs strongly to the oath they take when embarking into this profession - that they would aid in the healing n cure of the sick - and NOT encourage their KILLING.
I personally believe euthanasia should not be encouraged!! On one hand, you consider capital punishment unacceptable, suicide unacceptable - then why should you accept mercy killing? All the pro-euthanasia group may say that by letting the diseased live, we are making them go through unwanted suffering. Well, empathy/ sympathy for the ones in pain is human, but intentional killing to alleviate the anguish is like, i think, burning down a house coz of mosquito trouble!!!!
This is the age when medical science is progressing by leaps & bounds every day. They are near to finding out cures for cancer/ AIDs etc(not sure if it is already been discovered). In such a progressive world, if the doctor tells you that you have a year to live - for all you know the very disease which has no cure today, might end up having something few months down the lane and you could actually live to see your generations down the ladder!!!!
Why take your life, when there may be light at the end of the tunnel?
Why force the doctors to change their oath?;)
I started off this write, thinking i would support euthanasia but on second thoughts, naaa!! Live and live as long as you can. Savour every moment of life. There would be troughs but then every trough should be followed by a crest!!!!!
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8 comments:
In my opinion, the excruciating pain suffered by someone cannot in any terms be compared with mosquito trouble..:).
About the euthanasia, I guess the debate will go on. Have you come across the Terry Schiavo case? She was told by the doctors she had very little chance of recovery,yet her parents kept her on life support for nearly 15 years until her husband won a legal battle to end her life. No pain , no suffering.. she was in a vegetative state but her husband was able to prove that she would never have wanted to live this way.
On side its your life, your pain ..on the other end its other people who decide keeping your best interests in mind. Tough call.
Oops...that was me by the way.
-naz
well said regarding it being a tough call. on one side you have the emotional call asking you to keep the life ticking hoping for life to spring up by some freak chance and on the other hand you have the practical call which says - end it all - you a re a vegetable - that too dead!!!
And yeah i had read about Terry Schiavo !! Sad story!!
pro-euthanasia.. thats my stand too.. if you are not living to the fullest, better not at all... and spare the person the pain... u cant talk, cant move your limbs..no possible way of expressing your feelings..thats hell before you are judged.. u shud see the video of the track "One" by Metallica.. it showsthe state of a person who shakes his head and says in Morse code pleading for euthanasia..
Well I dunno about it. Ive been through hell of a lotta pain in the last year and half. Its still not over and I can never live life to the fullest as some ppl might know it.I know pain. But does it mean that I would rather die?Naaah I dont think so.But then that springs from my world view.I guess not everyone would feel the same way. Dej
Euthanasia is concerned only with those who can't live a life at all. Which sane person would decide that s/he wants to live despite being unable to walk,talk,eat,drink,smile,laugh or anything that a normal person can do?
I've heard about people in Palliative Care Units in Cancer hospitals from my relatives who are doctors. They are sure to die sooner or later, and till they do, they undergo unimaginable pain.Why can't they be given an early escape route from the suffering? Why should they be forced to suffer till they die 'normally'?
Oh please make euthanasia legal. I've seen so much sufferring in cancer hospitals, and as SnM said, its really bad. The patients should have a choice. The palliative care available now are not enough. The drugs used as pain killers are heroin, opium and morphine. Who would want to live with the hope of surviving on that??
If you have read Eric Segal's 'Doctors' you will sympathize with both the dying patients and the doctors who perform mercy killing. I am definitely pro-Euthanasia but yeah you have a point, who decides the 'right time' to die has come and how sure can doctors really be??
Anila told me about your blog btw :)
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