Life is precious; everything within our being says to defend a life from harm. Doctors are often confronted with difficult discussions several times a day, about the health of their patients. The Physicians code says, “Do no harm.” But when a severely injured person or elderly person is under their care, which may seep into a vegetative state, how can they make the patient comfortable?
After reading Susan Wolf’s “Confronting Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: My Father’s Death” (Sep/Oct 2008, Hastings Center Report, 38(5), p. 23-26), this Arthur had to wipe his own tears away. Having lost his father four months prior to reading the article, this writer felt many of the same feelings Ms. Wolf described, in her article. A once strong a vibrant member of the family, was drawing the close of their life, with no hope for recovery. For any person who watches a parent fade, it is a painful process. Parents at one point or another realize the possibility of one day, having to leave this world. For the family members left behind, it is hard to realize that a hero in your life has passed away; the Superman or Wonder Woman is no longer there.
The question arises, “If a loved one was suffering, what would you do?” This question may seem easy at first, but it soon becomes a quandary as different scenarios are brought to mind. If a loved one was injured in any type of vehicular accident, and had to survive on respirators the rest of their life, would the loved one want the treatment? For that matter, if you were the patient in this scenario, would you want that type of treatment? Questions no longer become easy, when the shoe is on the other foot.
It is easy to consider the question of Euthanasia, if the question is not about you, but what if it were. Should we ponder the question of the use of assisted suicide (Euthanasia), when the subject is of a family member. We often feel greedy, as if we refuse to let a loved one pass away.
Life is precious, however when the possibility of a human life passing away, a moral dilemma develops. In most of the United States, physician assisted suicide is illegal. In Oregon, the Death with Dignity Act has made physician assisted suicide legal. Not only is suicide considered a mortal sin, according to the Holy Bible, but it can be considered illegal. But shouldn’t physicians be obligated to assist those that are dying to pass away with some sort of dignity?
With medical treatment, patients often recover from an injury or illness. But what happens when the patient does not respond to treatment? Or the patient slips into a coma, without a recovery agenda.
If the patient was a member of your family, would you want to keep your loved one hooked up to a machine to live? Most people would say, “Yes, of course!” But what if the outlook of recovery was not supportive? Could you justify “your wants” to keep your loved one alive, while they struggle to live? Or could you allow your loved one to pass away with some sort of dignity?
Everyone has the right to die with dignity. Though we as family members might not wish to lose them, as the person has become such an entrical part of our lives. Can we be greedy and only wish for ourselves? Or must we also view what would be better for our loved one? These are tough questions, nobody wants to lose a loved one, but death is also part of the life cycle.
Physicians do their jobs to save and prolong life. When a patient suffers from an injury, pain, or a sickness, they go to work attempting to relieve that suffering. What can a doctor do to relive a person whom is dying? According to most of the laws in the United States, the only thing a doctor can do is make their patient comfortable. However, when a person is suffering the only thing they want is relief, or to be over quickly.
As for this Arthur, I was not willing to let my father go. The man who was my hero, mentor, confidant, and friend. But I was being greedy for myself. I had not felt the pain he felt during or after his heart attack. In this Arthur’s family the question of surviving off the workings of a machine has never come into play. If we had to life with the aid of a machine, we would rather have the electric plug pulled, so we could die with dignity.
References:
Wolf, Susan. (2008, Sep/Oct). Confronting Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: My Father’s Death. Hastings Center Report. 38(5), 23-26. Retrieved from EBSCO Host Database located at the Ashford Online Library