Euthanasia has been a growing problem in the United States and across
the world for many years. Physician-assisted suicide was legalized in
Oregon in 1994 (and later implemented in 1997), legally introducing
euthanasia to the United States. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
have long been practiced without legal consequence in the Netherlands—even
though euthanasia was not officially permitted until just a couple years
ago. Documented cases already exist in the Netherlands where doctors
have escaped jail time for non-voluntary euthanasia after being acquitted
by the court system. Many Dutch citizens, in fear of the doctors, actually
wear tags that state that they do not want to be euthanized.
The United States has recently seen a more nuanced case of euthanasia.
Because euthanasia usually occurs at the hands of medical experts in
hospitals, such acts are often clandestine. The legal battle and subsequent
euthanizing of Terri Schiavo, a disabled Florida woman who relied on
a feeding tube for food and hydration, has brought end of life issues
to the attention of the nation. Terri died on March 31, 2005, after
surviving without food or water for nearly 14 days. Nutrition and hydration
should virtually never be considered optional care; they are basic comfort
care due all persons. The following information will help you to think
about the problems involved with euthanasia.
End of Life Concerns
A request for assisted suicide is typically a cry for help. Counseling,
assistance, positive alternatives, and symptom management are better
solutions for very real problems.
Suicidal intent is typically transient. Of those who attempt suicide
but are stopped, less than 4% attempt to kill themselves in the next
five years; less than 11% will commit suicide over the next 35 years.
Terminally ill patients who desire death are depressed, and depression
is treatable in those with a terminal illness. In one study, of the
24% of terminally ill patients who desired death, all had clinical
depression. Once depression is adequately treated in terminal patients,
their suicidal thoughts subside substantially.
Pain is controllable. Modern medicine has the ability to control
pain. Killing oneself is not a way to end intense pain; a doctor better
trained in palliative care is the solution.
In the U.S., legalizing voluntary active euthanasia [assisting
suicide] means legalizing non-voluntary euthanasia. State courts have
ruled time and again that if competent people have a right, the Equal
Protection Clause of the United States Constitution’s Fourteenth
Amendment requires that incompetent people be “given”
the same “right”.
In the Netherlands, legalizing voluntary assisted suicide for those
with terminal illness has spread to include non-voluntary euthanasia
for many who have no terminal illnesses. Half of the killings in the
Netherlands are now non-voluntary, and the problems for which death
is now the legal “solution” include mental illness, permanent
disability, and even simple old age.
Problems are not solved by killing the people with health problems.
The more difficult but humane solution to human suffering is to address
the problems directly.
