Too often, liberals succeed in portraying right-to-life issues in shades of dark grey and black. If we do not succumb to their lobbying and allow a world of universal abortion on demand and euthanasia upon request, they tell us, we will see a world in which women will die from back alley abortions and the terminally ill will die screaming in pain, all to satisfy an antiquated notion of morality. With regard to euthanasia, at least, advocates would be well advised to look at the findings coming out of Scandinavia, where various forms of doctor assisted suicide have been legal for some years. The number of people whose deaths were hastened has skyrocketed, as have reports of people being put to sleep without their or their families consent. Additionally, autopsies are rarely performed after euthanasia, meaning that there is no mechanism to verify whether or not the patient was indeed on the verge of death.
Possibly the most important aspect involved in research on palliative care for the terminally ill concerns to what degree, and why, they do in fact want to die. Dr. Harvey Chochinov, a Canadian, and a religious Jew, has been doing leading work in this field for many years, and his findings are impressive, not to mention contrary to what we have been told by pro-euthanasia activists. First, he has found that the desire to die is transitory in even the most afflicted patients. During the same day patients may easily change their minds about whether they want to continue to struggle against illness. This indicates that the notion of consent to be euthanized is a dangerous and misleading one; unless the patient is monitored continuously over a long period, it is not possible to say that he has consented in the sense in which the term is usually understood.
Second, Chochinov has found that when patients are given adequate pain control, supportive counselling for themselves and their families, and care that preserves their dignity and privacy, very very few are persistent in expressing a wish to end their lives. Rather than channelling political energies and financial resources into facilitating death, we would all be better served by directing ourselves toward such excellent care for the ill and dying. Further, this approach is more consonant with Judeo-Christian values and reverence for life. Even when death is near, we must cling to life and honour it; and one of the ways in which we honour it is by comforting and tending to the dying.
Posted by Clio at December 23, 2002 02:39 PM