Euthanasia - To Murder or Not to Murder, That is the Question

Okay, so get ready to not like me anymore, especially after you read this post. I have tried to avoid posting on subjects that rev my engine, except for last week that is, until now. When I read the article, “Italy Seeks Clarity on Euthanasia,” I just knew I had to respond.

So, basically, the article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7881441.stm) reports that Italy’s politicians were in the process of creating a new right-to-die law, after the case of Eluana Englaro. Englaro was a 38-year-old patient who had been in a coma since 1992. Just as the Senate was preparing to pass a law to keep Englaro alive, the doctors pulled her feeding tubes and she died. Of course, this issue raised some serious concerns among the politicians and anti-euthanasia and rights-to-die activists.

“Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expressed similar sentiments. ‘Eluana did not die a natural death, she was killed,’ he said, blaming President Giorgio Napolitano for blocking his emergency decree that would have forced doctors to resume feeding her.”

However, the President reported that the prime minister had acted, “unconstitutionally by attempting to overrule the courts, which had judged that Ms. Englaro should be allowed to die, in accordance with her father’s wishes.”

My first issue with this entire case is when did it become the government’s place or right, let alone anyone else for that matter, to intervene in determining when someone else lives or dies? We have become so involved in the lives of others, whether it be celebrities or regular every day citizens, that we cross the lines between legalism and ethics. Is it right for us to force our beliefs on someone else’s life, when it interferes with their beliefs? When is it okay for the media and the rest of the world to play God with our lives?

I am, by the full meaning of the words, a Christ believer and Christ follower. So, my beliefs may often, as they always do, conflict with the morals or beliefs of most of the world. So, I do not fully understand how it becomes our right to become involved in determining who lives or dies. I’ve always been under the impression that this was inevitably God’s decision. No matter who wants to fight it, drag it into court, print it in the newspapers, pass a law against it, or whatever. My life’s beginning was not decided in the courts or the newspapers, and neither will my life’s ending.

This is the same issue as the Terri Schiavo case when the state of Florida had to become involved in deciding if Schiavo’s feeding tube would be removed because Schiavo’s parents disagreed with her husband’s right to have his wife disconnected from life support, even though the husband had a do not resuscitate order. Many people would argue that as long as the brain is still working, then you’re still alive, regardless of whether you have function of the rest of your body and organs. Then the question of quality of life comes into play. Is it really living, if there’s no quality of life? Should we be denied the right to quality of life?

This issue sparks a lot of controversy within the church and the government. It then becomes a religion versus ethics issue. Just like in Italy where the Roman Catholic Church became involved in Englaro’s case.

“The Roman Catholic Church, which was angered by the moves to withdraw Ms Englaro's life support, and prayed for God's "forgiveness" for those who "led her" to her death, agreed. ‘A just law is necessary for the good of our society and our civilisation,’ said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, head of the powerful Italian bishops' conference.”

On the religious aspect, some may even question if it’s biblical to even be hooked up to machines. Would not some fanatics say that God would not want us hooked up to life support at all, if He is our life support? Of course, I have my opinions on that matter, but I will not voice them here for fear that this post would be several pages long and spark numerous posts of controversy.

Is it really euthanasia if we are preserving quality of life? Is euthanasia just simply another word for murder?

The questions and the arguments are numerous, and have been argued for centuries. So, who’s right? In the end, we all have our strong opinions and views on this issue and no one will sway the other from their point of view. So, on this issue, I guess we just all have to agree to disagree, loudly.