Luke+B's+Letter

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Dear, Mr. Wesley Smith,

I will try remain respectful, after all I don’t practice law and I’m not a professor. What I do have is a set of morals that hold as much factual evidence as yours and an experience of human life. I can quite easily see your view of euthanasia. Identical to the Catholic Church’s proclamation of “ [euthanasia is] and offence to the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity” (from their official proclamation). The catholic position states that those who wish for euthanasia are in fact crying for help and need love and medical care. It oddly enough included painkillers in the proclamation, saying that painkillers should only be used if the patient can remain lucid through out the treatment. It goes on to say that everyone is put here on this planet for a purpose, and that to take your own life is to rob god, other humans, and your self of the possibilities you have. I do believe that taking your own life does in some sense harm other people a significant amount, but in many if not all euthanasia cases the focus is not on the outlying people but on a single person and their suffering at the hands of disease or disaster. Their wishes and autonomy should be respected, and I believe that these decisions are not made lightly. In any case, the bureaucracy in place would ensure that another Dr. Kevorkian wouldn’t take over, or that no patient with a debilitating injury or sickness would be able to use this service. After reading your article “Million Dollar Missed Opportunity” I couldn’t help but notice your desire for a, what I would reservedly call, a happy ending. The simply truth is that Maggie had been devoted to a singular way of life, and once robbed of that she had nothing left. While I personally think she should have waited, she was no longer lucid and had taken the matter into her own hands by trying to bite her own tongue off. Sadly enough, people who lead active lifestyles are often simply no longer satisfied with life even after the “depression mark”. This means they of ten take drastic measures such as a patient driving their wheelchair off stairs or in Maggie’s case trying to bite her tongue off.

While I was reading your blog you also mentioned the “Dutch euthanasia horrors”, it seems that you have not considered that euthanasia in the Dutch culture has a significantly different view on what is acceptable. Pieter Admiraal comments on his nation’s healthcare system, by saying that they don’t take euthanasia lightly, and hospice care is not skimped on. This is easily shown by the fact that their healthcare system easily outranks ours with a life expectancy two years higher than ours, and 2 fewer infant deaths (per 1000), but these might not be entirely accurate for euthanasia. In any case Dr. Admiraal says “It would be quite improper for doctors or other health care professionals to impose their values and their understanding of pain or suffering on the patient”. This goes hand in hand with the idea that the patient is a grown adult with human (and god given) autonomy; the rights and wishes of a patient should be respected. This is especially true when they are this close to death; we even give prisoners on death row a last meal and words, why groom someone this much just to kill them later. As you will see in Chris Hill’s argument later this is exactly like rehabilitating someone who dosen’t want to undergo this proccess. One of Admiraal’s patients who was not allowed to die due to religious reasons said “I have no future, no outlook, and I am very afraid that I will suffocate because of the aspiration of food. I’ve even got to call somebody if there’s a fly on my face. This is senseless and cruel, and I want to die as soon as possible.” The Dutch really don’t have the espoused “culture of death” rather; it is a culture that acknowledges that not all people will be able to sanely tolerate the journey of a debilitating injury. The Catholic church also has the same belief with pain killers, that patients should relate with the suffering of Christ. Obviously the Dutch realized that many of us might not have the strength to make this journey and the patient should have the opportunity to call it quits. I understand your fear that if euthanasia is made legal it will become a common and easy venue, the truth is that, even if euthanasia was made legal most people would fight disease to the end. Having the option open doesn’t mean that it will become common. Euthanasia isn’t forced onto people like the “culture of life”, it is a choice. That is the fundamental difference from what you write about in your blog to what is actuality.

Another person who stood for euthanasia was Chris Hill, a paraplegic whose former life was as a top notch travel agent. Who said “I felt that that the legislature’s and medical profession’s attitude of life at any cost was an inhumane presumption that amounted to arrogance”. Paralyzed, incontinent, and covered with sores Hill was obviously distraught, but for years after the “depression mar” he still expressed a death wish. Hill also claims that his forced recovery cost the taxpayers of Australia $150,000, and moreover that none of the doctors asked him what he wanted to happen. While I’m sure this is a slight exaggeration the message nonetheless remains the same. The fact that he had to kill himself and did not die in a loving embrace is in my opinion the saddest part. He died alone and probably didn’t have the chance to tell his loved ones for fear of being caught. If someone has this strong of a desire it will be enacted, the question is what choices does society give them; suicide, bitter existence, heavy smoking and drinking? At least euthanasia is an orderly procedure that is as kind as possible.

Love is a under rated and much needed piece of healthcare, that we both agree on. But quality of life is something that differs from person to person, we as a society should be able to support those who wish to continue living, and release those who can’t or don’t want to make it per request. That last part is crucial, because euthanasia is an act done out of love and by the patient’s request. In your blog you spoke about non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia, without consent euthanasia is murder and should not be even close to the same category.

Before I finish I want to thank you for taking the time to read my class’s work and thank you for the intellectual sparring.

-Luke Barnett