Elena's+Letter

Dear Mr. Wesley J. Smith,

First of all, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this.

Secondly, and most importantly, I want to tell you that I respect your opinion. As Voltaire once said: “I may not agree with your opinion, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” I respect your opinion, and you as a fellow human being, and I think this is important to note before entering debate.

Thirdly, I have to say, I respectfully disagree with your point of view. The only thing I believe we agree on is that the intent of Million Dollar Baby was “not to leave a dry eye in the house”.

But beyond that we differ in everything else. I don’t think we are on the road to a society that worships death. I think we are just learning to accept death as a sad, but inevitable, and entirely natural, part of life.

The Declaration of Euthanasia by the Catholic Church states that “euthanasia is understood [to be] an action of or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death”. By that logic, as you also suggest, removing a patient from a respirator, for example, is also euthanasia, and also wrong. As Mr. Geib says “the Catholics are nothing if not consistent.” They believe, according to their Declaration of Euthanasia, that passive euthanasia, active euthanasia, suicide, and any other form of hastening death is not only wrong, but a sin against God.

But then there’s the case of the Catholic priest working in the Dutch city of Delft who sanctioned the euthanization of Carla. But more importantly, the Dutch doctor Pieter Admiraal condones euthanasia. He states in “Listening and Helping to Die: The Dutch Way” that he considers it an act of mercy in //some// cases. But he also states that he is saddened each time. A perfectly human response, after all.

But neither of these pieces were written by members of the group we discuss. And I think this is an important omission to note.

In “The Note”, Chris Hill discusses his unwillingness to live with his paralyzed body. He considers euthanasia an escape from the tomb he’s been incarcerated in. He has to kill himself because his country doesn’t have assisted suicide for non-terminal conditions. And I can’t help feeling that’s wrong. Shouldn’t his country have helped him die comfortably, in a well lit hospital with warm sheets than by himself in the dark? No one should have to die alone. He shouldn’t have had to die without dignity.

And then there’s the opinion of Alison Davis. She thinks that being handicapped does not make one “have a lower quality of life”. She believes society places a bulls-eye on the handicapped by allowing “death with dignity” and assisted suicide for terminal conditions.

And while I agree with Alison Davis that society believes handicapped individuals have a lower quality of life, I do not believe they are proving this through euthanasia. Society proves it through averted eyes, shut ears. Revulsion fought down at the sight of slack muscles or the sound of a whirring wheel chair. And that needs to change. But I don’t believe it is very deeply involved with the euthanasia debate. It’s just people being narrow minded.

But let’s refocus. So we know not even Catholics are consistent. Not surprising, really. As every group, even churches, are made up of unique individuals. And simply because the Church says euthanasia is wrong, that doesn’t mean every Catholic thinks so. But anyone would be naïve to deny that the Church is forceful with their beliefs.

But what about atheists? Jews? Muslims? It is a fundamental right to practice and believe your own religion. In fact, it’s the main reason America even exists. Settlers came fleeing persecution in England, turned around, and persecuted the Native Americans. We have since come to the conclusion that this, like England’s persecution, was also wrong. Americans pride themselves in not being like colonial England. And don’t we also pride ourselves on respecting the individual? Not preaching paternalism? Upholding plurality? Not persecuting? And in that sense, not being like Saudi Arabia?

Persecution is the suppression of an individual or a group based on, among other things, gender, sexual orientation, race, but mainly, and most importantly, belief. It doesn’t matter how large or small persecution may be, it is wrong. And yet, somehow, we keep doing it. Maybe humans like pain. Maybe we like torture. Maybe we really are as dark and evil as slithering serpents; maybe we are forever cursed by our original sin.

But I don’t believe that. I think humans are good. I think many people share this belief. It’s a belief that isn’t always easy to hold onto. But somehow we did. Through wars, and genocides. Through everything. We held onto this simple, small, belief, because somewhere, deep down, we know not everyone is evil, not everyone is a murderer. We know that just because one person says something, does something, it doesn’t mean everyone around them meant it too. We know we are all individuals.

We forget it often. It’s far too easy to lump everyone together in groups. Republicans. Democrats. White. Black. Catholics. Jews. Atheists. But it doesn’t make it any less wrong. We know that persecution is wrong. That’s what persecution is after all, lumping people together into groups because it’s easier to forget how different everyone is from each other.

But just because it’s easier to forget than to forgive, just because it’s easier to sort people than acknowledge everyone’s different, just because it’s easier, doesn’t make it right. It would be easier to say no to euthanasia, once and for all. No exceptions. It would be easier to pretend that everyone wanted to live. But the truth is they don’t.

Euthanasia.

I’ve seen it. I don’t want it. I wish we didn’t need it. But we do. Simple as that.

A year ago my grandmother moved from Germany into our house. She had rapidly advancing Alzheimer’s. She tore curtains off the walls because of the severe mood swings that accompanied her disease, poisoned the food because she kept forgetting how much salt she had added, and a hundred other things. She forgot my name first. Then my sister’s, my mom’s, and finally, her son’s. Then she forgot her own name. She lost control of her bodily functions. She became a walking corpse. Her brain rotted in her skull. She had two strokes, fell and broke her hip twice, caught pneumonia in the hospital. And then finally lapsed into a coma. In the end, her son had the respirator pulled out.

And if you had known her before this had all happened, you would have known that’s what she would have wanted. I think my father did the right thing. I know it still haunts him to this day, not because he thinks he did the wrong thing, but because his mother ended up that way. Dying for years, becoming someone else, a shell.

If she had known, it wouldn’t have ended like that. She would have requested voluntary euthanasia much sooner. Had someone, anyone, other than her son to take care of her as she degenerated, not that she would have allowed it to get that far.

Some people would accuse my grandmother or my father of playing God. Or the doctor. What does playing God even mean, really? Because playing God means not allowing people to die naturally. But wouldn’t any medical intervention at //any// point be considered playing God by those standards? Vaccines? Performing CPR? Saving a premature baby? They’re all lifesaving or death preventing procedures. So aren’t we already interfering with God’s plan? Because if we were to truly step back, there would be a lot more people on there way to heaven already. It’s true, humans are meddlesome creatures. Why is the idea of euthanasia against God’s plan when everything else works? Is it really that far fetched to say that maybe euthanasia was part of God’s plan in the first place?

But that’s a religious debate that I’m sure could last centuries. But why is it okay for a Catholic who might believe that euthanasia //is// against God’s plan to enforce that belief over an atheist?

We are all different. Our limits vary significantly from person to person. My definition of happiness is not, and will never be, my sisters. Nor my best friend’s, nor yours. And I would never impose it on someone else. I I’d have to be a selfish, self centered, righteous, terrible monster to do that. It’s wrong.

No one can force someone else to be happy. And while reading your blog post made me smile, I think it’s just wishful thinking. Maggie was just not a politician, or an artist. She was fighter, she lost that, she wanted out. It’s a movie. It’s supposed to be simple. And regarding Frankie never giving up on Maggie, “even if she wanted to give up on herself, isn’t that saying that Maggie’s opinion doesn’t matter? I agree she should have waited, and yes, if Million Dollar Baby wasn’t a movie, maybe she would have gotten better and happier. But if we were to follow the simplicity of the movie, she wouldn’t have. Not ever. And what then? Frankie should just keep denying her, disregarding her? You wrote about “what Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning movie could have done”. But the simple thing is it didn’t.

We need voluntary euthanasia as an option. Even if no one ever used it. Because I believe it’s wrong to take away someone’s choices. Regardless of how wrong they seem to me. If we strip everything away from humans, their belongings, their clothes, their body, they still have one thing left. The most important thing, actually. Their mind.

To take someone’s mind and disregard it, strip it away, we lose ourselves. We lose our humanity, ourselves, our purpose, our future. To eliminate everything, to deny choice, to persecute, is wrong. It’s stealing. “There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.”

When you eliminate choice, you steal a mind. You steal everything I’ve just mentioned. So go ahead, be against abortion, be against euthanasia. That’s your right to choose that. But don’t try to steal it from someone else. Don’t take away that option, that choice. I’m not denying that euthanasia, or assisted suicide as you say, is final. But I disagree when you say “It is the end of all choice. It is the end of all hope.” Respectfully, that’s your opinion, and maybe not the patients’.

We spent forever talking about “second act”s in BioEthics. Like you said, Maggie could have been a teacher or an artist etc etc. But boxing was already Maggie’s second act. She grew up, as the movie says, knowing only one thing, that “she was trash”. Isn’t knowing you’re loved a change, knowing you’re something that has worth, that’s a change. That’s already a second act. And yes, some people only have one act. Some have many more. It’s not fair. But maybe some people don’t need or can’t find a second love. Maybe there’s only ever one thing.

Our definitions of happiness aren’t the same. I would be happy in a wheelchair. I’ve been in one before, and I can tell you I am quite fantastic at running over people’s toes and popping wheelies. But don’t ever make me motionless. Don’t trap me in a prison shaped like my body. Because to me, it’s the same as a tiny concrete cell. Chris Hill felt the same way.

Alison Davis didn’t.

It’s //my// choice. It was Chris Hill’s choice. It wasn’t Alison Davis’s choice. Why does it matter that they’re different? It shouldn’t. So long as no one was forced. Good doctors don’t push a little extra morphine into an IV for fun. Or by “accident”. It comes down to consent. There’s a huge difference between pushing morphine into an IV of a patient who requested it as a means of an end and someone who just wants the pain relieved. And yes, I’m sure there are doctors who do that, disregard consent, and violate a patient’s rights, but I seriously doubt they are numerous.

And no, I don’t think doctors should be forced to do active euthanasia against their will, again, choice factor. But for those that do it willingly, I doubt they operate on some Kevorkian death worship drive. I think they do it sadly, with reservation, as an act of mercy. And I can’t blame them.

I don’t think requesting or aiding in euthanasia is wrong. I think denying that choice is not only wrong but far worse. I think it’s wrong for anyone to assert their belief over someone else’s body and life, whether it’s a church, a group, you or me. I think euthanasia needs to be talked about and practiced openly and unashamedly. There needs to be a waiting period. No rushing into permanent solutions without careful examination of all the options. I think that we are all individuals with individual standards for happiness. And most importantly, I think those standards, that individuality, that belief, that choice, must be respected and cherished above all else. Even our own fear.

I think we need to love and respect each other every second of every day for our entire lives. And yes, that means loving and respecting every individual to the very end, even in death.

Respectfully, Elena Schink