There is a cough from the next room, with an exaggerated wheeze of the breath being inhaled. The wheeze comes from someone who is gravely ill. They look around the room, and it's a strange looking place with railings on each side of the bed. They roll over realizing that their diaper is full and wet. The next day they are only awake for a couple of hours, at this time they self--assess themselves. They are awfully diminutive for their size. Some strange person enters the room, they smile sadly with a tear in their eye. Now picture this person being a grandmother you loved and adored, she is suffering from a debilitating disease that has eaten away at her life slowly without any regard to the beautiful spirit she once was. She never intended to be this kind of burden, and she wanted to pass on to the next phase with some dignity. Instead she dies wetting her diapers and not knowing her own children or husband of over half a century. If she had the choice, she never would have died in the manner in which she did. She would have chosen a much more tranquil way of leaving this earth, but the law tells her that she is not allowed to seek help in taking her own life.

You may be asking yourself why such a young person feels so strongly for euthanasia. In my short life I have seen enough death to last me a life time. I have worked in nursing homes and hospitals where the patients are so far into a disease that they do not even know where or who they are. Most of them were never awake long enough to see the light of day. But the most important influence was having to watch two of my grandmothers taken in such an inhumane way that it will haunt me for the rest of my life. I watched two once vibrant women become furniture, and I realize by me referring to them in this way may make you gasp but they didn't speak, they didn't move and they barely breathed. The diseases that ravaged their bodies made them so unrecognizable that even I could barely stand to see them. They were in so much pain that they were given pain killers to make them more comfortable, but the medications that they were given made them nauseous and sleep away what was left of their lives. Witnessing the deterioration of both their bodies and minds it never once occurred to me that they were dying a comfortable death.

This is a sad story to tell but unfortunately is the honest truth of what happens to the human body and mind. So what is stopping us from ending it all? The laws that protect us are the same laws that prevent us from seeking help regarding suicide. A "simple" suicide has always been deemed shameful and unrecognizable by the church, and suicide was at one point against the law. When faith fails us, we turn to our trusted physician to aid us in this last phase of life. The doctor looks at the ill individual with sympathy, but says, "I'm sorry and I empathize with you, but it is against the law for me to help you. What I can do is provide medication to ease the pain you are suffering." This is about as far as the doctors can go legally, only if such a treatment is stated in the individual's living will. Instead of the individual deciding when the right time is, the law decides for them.

Euthanasia is a difficult subject for some people to discuss. But when do we get to choose? We have the right to life and we should have the right to death. The government forbids us to seek this option as a way to slip into the never ending sleep. They are not looking at the ramifications of a deadly disease that takes patients on a horrible ride. The disease does not just happen to the individual. It also happens to the people surrounding the individual. The lawmakers are not in the home watching a person become a shadow of their former self. The sick individual withers away, not knowing where or who they are and a once dignified person feels shame for being such a burden.

The Task Force on Life and Law are developing professional medical standards regarding euthanasia. The Task Force does not condone the act of euthanasia, but they have set guidelines that medical professionals may utilize to assist a patient who has a serious illness. They believe that these principles will offer guidelines for medical professionals to take. A couple of these principles includes:

·Physicians have a professional obligation to provide appropriate
pain relief and palliative care.

·Physicians should not perform euthanasia or assist a patient to
commit suicide. However medications that may hasten a patients
death is ethically and professionally accepted, provided this
medication is not intended to cause the patients death.[SIC]

The doctors can provide a comfortable way for the patient to die, but can not physically aid them in doing so. Instead the person becomes a drug enhanced zombie. For someone to argue this transformation needs to witness this for themselves before deciding upon the issue of euthanasia.

The courts most often mention the states interest in preserving life, preventing suicide, protecting third person and maintaining the ethical integrity of the medical profession [SIC] (pg. 54 TFLL). However, it appears that the government is more interested in protecting themselves. They provide alternative methods to reassure the American people that there are other methods that can be utilized when a person is suffering from a debilitating, serious illness. They inform us that we have a right to a "Health Care Proxy." This proxy is used when a person is ill; they have the right to delegate to a trusted individual the authority to make health care decisions in the event of a future loss of capacity [SIC] (pg. 51). Another form of protection the law provides us with is the right to a "Living Will," which states the patients wishes regarding treatment, etc. The government gives us the right to refuse treatment under the Due Process clause of the United States Constitution. The government gives us this right--to still die a painful death, but they are covered by the full extent of the law.

Once the government officials can see for themselves what happens to the human body and spirit after a disease ravages a person's body, they may have a change of heart regarding euthanasia. As of two years ago the U.S. Supreme court ruled that the Constitution contained no specific right to die but allowed individual states to decide the issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide themselves[SIC] (Life 74). Oregon was the nation's first state to pass Death with Dignity law in 1997 (Life 74). The issue is now being debated in other states. With this another issue arises, why don't people fly to Oregon where it is legal? Oregon's law prohibits out-of- state residents from flying in for the assisted suicides (75).

Although the laws maybe slowly in changing there is a common misconception about people who want to obtain the right to assisted suicide, so few patients consider this to avoid pain. Most have fears such as the erosion of their body and mind, becoming a burden to their family, and the lack of dignity during their final days (78). For those of us who believe in aiding a person suffering, the law will punish us to the full extent. There are currently 32 states that make assisted suicide a specific statutory offense. In states without statutes prohibiting suicide assistance, persons who aide in suicides may be subject to prosecution for murder or manslaughter, which is punishable by serving time in prison (TFLL 69).

There is a definite need for guidelines or criteria that should be met when contemplating assisted suicide. Criteria for this should not be made by our local congressmen, but by individuals who have witnessed the deterioration of human life, such as doctors and medical professionals. Euthanasia should not be used as the easy way out of a bad situation, but it should be utilized when all other treatments have been exhausted and there is absolutely no hope for a cure. The constitution tells us we have the right to live free, but as individuals we should also have to the right to die without the interference of our government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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