Response to Euthanasia Fear-mongering

When I wrote the previous post, it was before anyone was talking about “death panels” or killing the elderly or forced euthanasia. Actually, nobody was talking about euthanasia or end-of-life care at all at the time. All the controversy broke out a week or two later. I knew what I said regarding euthanasia was controversial but I should have known that the topic would be blown way out of proportion. I naively expected a more intelligent level of discussion. Once all the exaggerated claims about forced euthanasia broke out, I considered editing that part of my post, but I decided to instead to add some clarity to why I wrote what I did.

There is absolutely no situation where euthanasia should be forced on anyone, and I made that clear the first time around but I’m saying it again anyhow. Also, I don’t believe that euthanasia should be legalized in the health care bill. I think that Congress’ approach of providing a higher level of support for end-of-life decision-making is the appropriate one.

What I was advocating was just another option for patients and/or their families who are in extreme situations. This is a true story. Two years ago, I had a friend who had brain cancer and died. Ian's battle had begun three years earlier when he’d learned he had a brain tumor. He had multiple surgeries over the course of his treatment and each time the tumor returned until the cancer finally took over and even with top notch care, he could not recover. Toward the end of his life, he was unable to walk, talk, or take care of himself. As the cancer affected more of his brain tissue, his sight, hearing, and memory were affected as well. Some people with brain cancer and even Alzheimer’s Disease aren’t able to chew or swallow and must be fed through a tube. I know this to be true because my Filipino grandmother went through this, which forced my family to make some difficult decisions. There are extreme situations, like advanced brain cancer, where I feel just having the option of euthanasia may be appropriate for certain people or families to make based on their individual situations and their end-of-life instructions or living wills.
To try to say that euthanasia should be mandated or used vicariously is just ludicrous. No one is advocating euthanasia in this health care bill, nor its’ legalization any time soon. I was only making a point about individual choice in extreme situations where a person may not even want the level of care they are being given.