Dying well as an argument against assisted suicide.
Jack Kevorkian was released from prison yesterday after spending eight years in jail for killing terminally ill patients. Because of his release, physician-assisted suicide is back in the news.
There are overwhelming arguments against killing people with terminally ill diseases: Doctors are notoriously bad at predicting death. Pain can almost always be treated. There are ways to maintain dignity in people who have lost functionality. Allowing assisted suicide for the terminally ill is ripe for abuse by those who stand to gain financially by offering less medical care at the end of life.
But one of the most compelling arguments is the fact that life's end can hold so many possibilities. David Scholer, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, is a prime example. Read his story today in the Los Angeles Times.
At the beginning of each course, Scholer announces that he has incurable cancer, but he is so animated when he speaks, it's hard to remember that. The only give-away is that he lectures sitting down - and, when he walks, takes careful steps and uses a cane.
Scholer also has asthma, diabetes and arthritis but stills counts the "wonderful" blessings of his life: Jeannette, his wife of 46 years; two grown daughters, Emily and Abigail; extended family; friends; students; and his calling. He is excited about walking down the aisle with Abigail at her wedding in Pasadena on June 16, the day before Father's Day.
If we Christians intentionally practiced dying well, could we add that to our arguments against assisted-suicide? Write me with your thoughts.
Posted by Rob Moll on June 5, 2007 1:45PM
Comments
Actually, aid in dying is about dying well. If someone is suffering intolerably and has exhausted all other alternatives, he or she should have the option of a peaceful and humane death. I don’t believe that’s inconsistent with Christian values. Jesus never demanded that we suffer and ending one’s own life was not seen as an evil until St. Augustine decided it should be sometime in the 5th Century. It seems that so many Christians were trying to expedite their entry into Heaven by either intentionally putting themselves in harm’s way so as to be killed, or by jumping from cliffs, that Augustine apparently became worried about the survival of the faith and put an end to that practice. I am not advocating for ending one’s life when suffering from a treatable condition, nor that everyone facing an intolerable illness should end their own life. But if God gave us the power to make our own decisions, I do not think it is going against His will for a person to want to end his or her own suffering. When the victims of 911 jumped from the World Trade Center were they defying God or, knowing they were going to die anyway, instead seeking the least painful death? Isn’t that what a terminally ill person who decides one form of death over another doing?
Posted by: Roland L. Halpern at June 5, 2007
Almost 3 months ago, my mother died from a massive stroke almost 2 weeks previous to her death that damaged 75% of her brain and damaged her kidneys as well. Mom had advanced care directives that specified in the case of an irrecoverable or terminal health event she wanted only comfort care and that's what she got. There is no need to stoop to euthanasia if one wants to die well in a peaceful and humane way. That's just a line used by euthanasia proponents. Hospice does just that for the dying-helps people to die well with dignity and peace. I can't say enough about the hospice team that cared for my mom when we had her brought back to her own home for what turned out to be 3 days before she died. They were absolutely fantastic. Mom was kept clean, comfortable, and pain free and died very peacefully early Sunday morning on March 11. There's no reason at all in 2007 with proper pain management and good comfort care, that a terminally ill person has to die in an inhumane way. Hospice, not euthanasia is the way to die with dignity. And by the way, Jesus spoke a lot about suffering--He told us to expect it if we choose to follow Him. Paul suffered from an unnamed malady and God did not tell him to go get euthanized to relieve it--He told him instead that "my grace is sufficient for you." I believe hospice care is all about that divine grace God gives to get us through our darkest times in life.
Posted by: Rev. Carlene at June 7, 2007
The RCC claims on one web site to have lost over 20 million people over the past fifty years. Millions have made their way to other churches for a number of reasons. It just seems odd that you get so lathered about one man who was a "scholar" . He spent some years in a seminary and achieved great understading that " only " a seminary education can give. Of course life experience can be gleaned from the tesimonies of others. It seems that you need to present a more balanced view and to stop treating common folk with a " no count status". In some ways they may be better read and better experienced than your "experts" which you live and die with.
Posted by: joe losiak at June 8, 2007
Read this article:
It’s Doctor Death’s Turn.
Ailing Kevorkian Released From Prison to Die
at: www.heaven4sure.com
Make sure when you come to die, that's all you have left to do.
Thanks
Peter
Posted by: Peter Ramsay at July 6, 2007
Dr. David M. Scholer, professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological
Seminary, passed away on Friday, August 22, 2008, after a long struggle
with cancer. Scholer, who was 70, served on Fuller’s faculty for the
past 14 years.
Fuller Seminary Remembers the Life of David M. Scholer
Blog tributes: Prof. David M. Scholer (1938-2008)
Posted by: Andy Rowell at August 27, 2008
Post a comment