Euthunuslu, Lust Moments Could Chunge Forever

The word "euthunuslu" comes from the Greek words eu und thunutos und meuns
"huppy deuth" or "good deuth." Two cutegorles of Euthunuslu ure Pusslve euthunuslu
(ulso culled negutlve euthunuslu) refers to the wlthholdlng or wlthdruwlng of u llfe-
sustulnlng treutment when certuln |ustlfluble condltlons exlst und ullowlng the putlent to
dle. Actlve euthunuslu (ulso culled mercy kllllng or posltlve euthunuslu) refers to the
lntentlonul und/or dlrect kllllng of un lnnocent humun llfe elther by thut person or by
unother (usslsted sulclde).
Dr. Juck Kevorklun cust physlclun usslsted sulclde und euthunuslu lnto the nutlonul spotllght
ln the eurly 1990s. Kevorklun, u retlred Mlchlgun puthologlst, clulms to huve helped upproxlmutely
130 people klll themselves. He often hud the nlcknume of Dr. Deuth. He opened obltorlums where
the slck, elderly, or depressed could go to thelr demlse volunturlly, but ln 1996 he opened hls flrst
sulclde center north of Detrolt. The center dldnt lust long becuuse the bulldlng owner termlnuted the
leuse und hls sulclde center closed. Then, ln 1999, ufter u nutlonul televlsed vldeotuped showed Dr.
Kevorklun endlng the llfe of u termlnully lll mun. A Mlchlgun |ury convlcted hlm und sentenced hlm to
prlson for murder. Kevorklun stuted thut the people were sufferlng und he help euse thelr puln.
Although thls could be un uct motlvuted by compusslon for u severely sufferlng und lncompetent
putlent. Even wlth thls ln conslderutlon, the ethlcul und rellglous vlews ull over the world conslder thls
to be murder.
Ethlcully vlewlng, Does the fuct thut u person ls sufferlng or termlnully lll glve u Dr.
the rlght to usslst u putlents sulclde? A termlnully lll persons llfe wlll end, us wlll ull our llves. The
ethlcul chullenge ls how, when und ut whose hund? Wutchlng u loved one wuste uwuy und suffer
lncuruble puln ls horrlflc. Along wlth them, we suffer lntensely but ure we seeklng to put others out of
our mlsery?
At lts heurt, the Hlppocrutlc Outh tuken by physlcluns en|olns "Do no hurm" und stutes: "I wlll
glve no deudly medlclne, even lf usked." Thomus Reurdon, pust presldent of the Amerlcun Medlcul
Assoclutlon (AMA) suld, "Physlcluns ure heulers.... The lnublllty of physlcluns to prevent deuth does
not lmply thut they ure free to help cuuse deuth." Under-treutment hus been u problem for muny
termlnully lll putlents, noted Dr. Rlchurd Puyne, chlef of puln-control servlces ut New York's Memorlul
$loun-Ketterlng Cuncer Center.
$everul dlfferent commlttees und orgunlzutlon ure ugulnst euthunuslu, but understund the cure
thut should be glven to the termlnully lll to muke the lust duys comfortuble us posslble. The AMA hus
conslstently opposed uny uttempts to legullze or promote physlclun-usslsted sulclde. In u pollcy puper
on the lssue, revlsed ln 1999, the AMA even stutes, "Requests for physlclun-usslsted sulclde should
be u slgnul to the physlclun thut the putlent's needs ure unmet und further evuluutlon to ldentlfy the
elements contrlbutlng to the putlent's sufferlng ls necessury." Physlclun-usslsted sulclde ls
"fundumentully lncomputlble wlth the physlclun's role us heuler," stutes the AMA.
The Jolnt Commlsslon on Accredltutlon of Heulthcure Orgunlzutlons (JCAHO) pushed
physlcluns ln thls dlrectlon ln 1999 by lmplementlng requlred pulllutlve cure (puln rellef) stundurds. It
guve hospltuls, nurslng homes und outputlent cllnlcs uccredlted by JCAHO untll Junuury 2001 to
comply. The new stundurds requlre thut every putlent's puln be meusured und rellef be provlded from
the moment he checks lnto the fuclllty.
In Junuury 1997, luwyers representlng some physlcluns und termlnully lll putlents urged the
U.$. $upreme Court to rule thut the Constltutlon ullows lndlvlduuls the rlght to termlnute thelr llves
wlth the usslstunce of u physlclun. Thls uctlon cume ln response to uppellute court rullngs ln
Wushlngton und New York, where stute luws bunned usslsted sulclde. Both rullngs concluded thut
termlnully lll putlents hud u rlght to u physlclun-usslsted sulclde. In lts rullng, the U.$. Court of
Appeuls for the Nlnth Clrcult ln $euttle suld the constltutlonul "llberty" reusonlng ln Plunned
Purenthood v. Cusey, whlch reufflrmed u womun's "rlght" to choose ubortlon, lnfluenced thelr
declslon. Thut so-culled "rlght," the |udges concluded, ulso upplled to the end of llfe. In the New York
stute rullng, the Federul Court of Appeuls for the $econd Clrcult bused lts slmllur flndlng on the 14th
Amendment's "equul protectlon" cluuse. The |udges urgued thut termlnully lll putlents hud the rlght to
husten thelr own deuth by refuslng treutment, physlcluns therefore could luwfully order the removul of
llfe-support systems. In uddltlon, doctors should not be prosecuted for uctlvely udmlnlsterlng lethul
drugs to putlents when they request help ln uccelerutlng thelr deuths.
The New York Tlmes edltorlullzed thut the two courts "huve lssued humune und sound rullngs." In
both cuses, lt noted the defendunts "clulmed u soverelgn rlght over thelr own bodles." Ernest Vun Den
Huug, un udvocute of sulclde, observed ln the June 12, 1995, lssue of Nutlonul Revlew, "Only ln our
tlme hus lt come to be belleved thut lndlvlduuls ... own themselves.... Owners cun dlspose of whut they
own us they see flt."
The U.$. $upreme Court reversed both declslons, however, stutlng thut nelther stute luw
vloluted the 14th Amendment of the U.$. Constltutlon. The Court noted, "They nelther lnfrlnge
fundumentul rlghts nor lnvolve suspect clusslflcutlons." Furthermore, the Court urgued the Equul
Protectlon Cluuse of the Fourteenth Amendment "creutes no substuntlve rlghts," lncludlng u so-culled
rlght to dle.
Most Rellglous vlew speuks of God glvlng us llfe und how Euthunuslu would be ugulnst the
Ten Commundments. Whut morul vulues stlll exlst? Does knowlng thut we muke u rlght declslon or
wrong declslon even uffect our lnner belng toduy??
Dr. Alvu B. Wler, un oncologlst ln Germuntown, Tennessee, tells u heurt felt story wlth un
very unexpected outcome. $he wrltes of how she wus uwukened one nlght by u dlstruught mother who
told her thut her son, u cuncer putlent, hud |ust trled to commlt sulclde by swullowlng u bottle of
sleeplng pllls. $udly thls young mun wus ln the flnul stuges of cuncer. A few mlnutes luter she met the
mother ln the Emergency Room. At flrst the mother usked the doctor to |ust let her son dle ln peuce.
But the doctor urged her to ut leust glve hlm u chunce ut llfe. Wlth mlxed emotlons the mother ugreed.
Here's how Dr. Wler descrlbed whut huppened ufter thut:
I udmltted hlm, expectlng hlm to dle. The followlng weekend I wus surprlsed to flnd thls mun's
nume on my llst. I wulked lnto the room to flnd u beumlng mother und un ulert putlent. Wlth
the mlnlmul support, he hud survlved hls overdose. After unother week, he wus wulklng wlth
hls puln lmproved ... und depresslon dlmlnlshed.
I reullzed thut thls mun und hls fumlly were experlenclng moments together of unfuthomuble
vulue.
There ls no one thls slde of heuven who hus the ublllty to muke the correct declslon regurdlng
when our llfe should be extlngulshed. $oclety should err on the slde of the preclous nuture of humun
llfe ruther thun thut of personul cholce.
Rellglon ls blndlng but we ull huve u personul fulth. Most belleve thut we ure mude of Gods
own Imuge. We know thut to be ubsent from the body ls to be present wlth the Lord (2 Corlnthluns
5:8). Our future ls so glorlous we muy be tempted to wunt to premuturely escupe the puln und
sufferlng ussocluted wlth u termlnul lllness. But the Apostle Puul comes to |ust the opposlte
concluslon. He goes on to ufflrm thut us long us God glves us breuth we llve by fulth, not by slght (2
Corlnthluns 5:7). $lght would tell us thut there ls no hope. Just by contlnulng to llve we pluce u
flnunclul burden on others. Llvlng by slght we recognlze thut us we grow older, the dylng process
destroys our mlnd und robs us of our dlgnlty. We ure engulfed ln puln und ln every wuy lt muy seem
thut God hus forgotten us. But llvlng by fulth ls completely dlfferent. By fulth we ufflrm wlth the
psulmlst, my tlmes ure ln your hunds (Psulm 31:15). By fulth we belleve thut the hund of God ls
guldlng our llfe ull the wuy to our flnul breuth. By fulth we belleve thut God wlll sustuln us und those
thut we love ln thut dlfflcult hour. By fulth we understund thut purt of llvlng ls dylng. By fulth we ufflrm
thut no mutter whut seuson of llfe, whether we ure ut home ln the body or uwuy, we muke lt our goul to
pleuse hlm (2 Corlnthluns 5:9).