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During our last meeting we presented and discussed the idea of Euthanasia, commonly know as 'mercy killing'. The term comes from the Greek eu, meaning 'good" and 'thanos', meaning death. Literally, euthanasia means 'good death. As we are all aware, 'assisted suicide has become a major topic of public discussion and concern, really initiated as a public debate abyu Dr. Jack Devorkian. He has, at great personal risk, proceeded to perform assisted suicide in and effor to garner public support for the voluntary terminationof life by anyone suffering the ravages of end=stage incurable or painful diseases. We certainly had a good turnout for Dr. Ileana Grams' persentation. She discussed some of the principle considerations and concepts regarding euthanasia. She emphasized how the fear of pain may be playing a major role in the support for euthanasia. Suicide, voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia were discussed. The difference between active and passive euthanasia was also brougt up. The argument, of course, is that some feel any form of euthanasia, be it voluntary or involuntary, is only a form of suicide. It may be that some require help in carrying it out. If suicide is considered as a personal right and morally acceptable, at least under certain circumstances, then euthanasia would only be an extension of suicide and therefore morally acceptable. When a vote was taken, 95% of the audience expressed their belief that suicide was an inherent personal right & desired the ability to turn to suicide if they so desired. Furthermore, the great majority expressed a positive vote for voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, under certain circumstances. They felt that they should have that ability and right. [Put 1/2 of newsletter in here] |
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p>According to one article I read, about 60% of physicians have had requests to perform euthanasia in some form. Furthermore, about 17% have admited to being involved in some form of euthanasia during their practice. Passive euthanasia, where life-support systems, drugs, food or water are withheld or terminated and patients are allowed to die, have been legal for some time. However, active euthanasia, where someone performs some act to intentionally terminate another's life is not legal at this time. It would legally be considered murder. Furthermore, passive euthanasia, where nature is allowed to take its course, has more support among physicians and the public than does active euthanasia. Physician support for assisted suicide has fallen from 48% to about 27% recently. At this time, Oregon is the only state that has made physician-assisted suicide legal under certain circumstances. Judging by the positive response for support of physician-assisted suicide, it seems that it has strong support among our members.
As usual, everything seems fine as long as we maintain our autonoomy. It is when we lose it through thequiet march of ;time or throgh diseases such as Alzheimer's or sudden illnesses like strokes, that the problem surfaces. The members of the audience voted overwhelmingly against involuntary euthanasia where the decision to terminate one's life is made by others. On Feb.2, we will discuss cloning. How would you like to see a few copies of yourselves? Couldn't we have used a few extra Ablert Einsteins or Thomas Edisons? Could we someday order up a perfect spouse? The implications are vast. See you at the next meeting. IAP newsletterstable of contents home page |