euthanasia

And no, I´m not talking about Japanese teenagers here.

This is a topic I´ve been thinking about for sometime. What has inspired me to post is a column by Andrew Bolt (crypto-fascists like him a lot as well) about Phillip Nitschke. Check out his column here. Some of what he writes about is pretty horrific, especially the fact that many of the people killed off by Dr Death have not only not had terminal illnesses, haven´t been in pain and have often been just old and lonely. Not exactly how things were meant to be is it?

So what do I think about euthanasia?

I support it, but with some (massive) qualifications. All those people who love the idea are too quick to forget that euthanasia is basically killing someone, and to take a human life is the greatest sin there is.

So who should be allowed euthanasia? In my opinion, those who are terminally ill (proven terminally ill), in great pain and with not long to live.

And where is my position different to Dr Nitschke´s?

I believe that euthanasia, as the taking of human life, must be treated as such and be subject to criminal prosecution.

If someone whom you love and care for is dying, in great pain and wants nothing more than to end it all, than most of us would be moved to try and do something to help. And if we truly cared for that person we would do this depite possible adverse consequences to ourselves.

I remember an example from my Legal Studies class in year 12 where an elderly gentleman killed his elderly wife because of the pain she was in. He was tried for murder, admitted his culpability but put forward the circumstances and the jury found him not guilty.

This man killed the woman he loved and accepted the personal consequences (a murder trial). If you aren´t willing to do the same than you shouldn´t be advocating euthanasia (a rather horrific name really, trying to disguise it´s own terrible reality).

I know that this leaves some people out in the cold. Many elderly people don´t have someone that close to them (many have no-one at all) who can do the deed. Others will find their loved ones simply can´t face the consequences. That is tough for them. But if Dr Nitschke wants to help out than he should. And then HE should go to court and justify himself.

I also remember hearing of cases from the Netherlands. Legalised euthanasia saw many doctors and nurses start to off patients who had never requested any such thing, more often than not without the knowledge or consent of family.

This is definitely a topic that is ¨thin edge of the wedge¨ stuff. Once you open up this particular can of worms, who knows where things will end up.

That´s another reason why my solution is simple and effective. It doesn´t change anything and it demands a meaninful sacrifice from those involved in assisting. Of course, in this day and age where the concept of sacrifice and service are often sneered at or reject outright my idea is unlikely to be popular. But hey, I´m not big on killing old people just because they´re old, so I guess we can´t all be friends, can we?

cheers

Harry