EUTHANASIA

       New Horizons Ministries, 724-455-2222a ministry of the Christian Family & Children's Center

http://www.champion.org/cpc

email: info@champion.org    See relatled link on End of Life Decisions

Although Euthanasia or Physician Assisted Suicide is a related topic to end of life decisions, it is important to distinguish between the two.  PAS is the process of actively taking life, while end of life decision planning is just being a steward of the end of life process.  The activities under PAS are more political in nature and are given here as a helpful understanding of what is happening in the world around us.  Many people believe that PAS is moving rapidly upon us as the accepted way to deal with end of life decisions.    New Horizons strongly disagrees and believes that one of the reasons PAS proponents are getting such a hearing is that those of us who believe in the Sanctity of life have left the area of end of life decision making wide open.    Check out these readings for additional information...

Also See Related Link on making end of life decisions at:  www.champion.org/cpc/cpcendoflife.htm

Q. What is euthanasia?

A. The Greek meaning is: 'eu'-easy, happy, painless; 'thanatos'-death. A British House of Lords definition is "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life to relieve intractable suffering". Some draw a distinction between 'passive' and 'active' euthanasia - the difference between the withdrawal of treatment to allow death, and deliberately putting someone to death, usually to secure release from pain - sometimes called "mercy killing". Other definitions to remember are: 'voluntary euthanasia' - with the person's consent; 'living-will' - a declaration made in advance where the person directs that they should not be kept alive by artificial means (usually this is associated with 'durable power of attorney' where someone is appointed in advance to make medical decisions for the person when they are unable to do so for themselves).

Q. Why is the euthanasia debate becoming so prominent?

A. There is a growing drive to legalize euthanasia and a proliferation of 'Right to Die' societies. Back in 1948 the World Medical Association adopted the Declaration of Geneva which rephrases in modern language the 24 centuries old Hippocratic Oath containing the words: "I will give no deadly drug to any, though it be asked of me, nor will I counsel such". However, this has been contradicted in the past few decades. An editorial of the Californian Medical Association of September 1970 ('A New Ethic for Medicine and Society') stated that in the future people will be eliminated whose quality of life does not meet certain medical criteria, and that next to birth control there will be death control. Society will accept euthanasia, either voluntary of compulsory, as "the new ethics of relative rather than absolute and equal value will ultimately prevail".
One needs to consider the whole picture to understand the "new ethics" which justifies the killing of human beings. Humanistic thought, which controls most educational systems and governments, is responsible for this new, anti-Christian way of thinking. For instance, the British Humanist Association states: "Humanists are sympathetic to voluntary euthanasia. By this we mean helping people to die painlessly if their lives have become hopeless, with no prospect of relief before death and if they wish to die. But these conditions must be rigidly adhered to". Humanists consider euthanasia as part of their agenda, together with rights, abortion on demand etc. Since humanism believes that man is simply a product of evolution it has no foundation for upholding the sanctity of life. Killing unwanted babies and the aged are the logical conclusion of humanistic philosophy.
Though seldom admitted, economic pressures are often the reason for advocating euthanasia rights. Some openly argue that families as a whole should be able to decide what happens to their older members so that they can free resources to care for their younger members. Others have gone so far as to suggest that people should 'volunteer' to be 'put down' at the age of 65 and be given 'hero status' for their contribution to society.

Q. Surely, euthanasia is acceptable if it is voluntary?

A. Beside the obvious Biblical response which is that God has given life and only He has the right to take it, there are also a number of other considerations why 'voluntary' euthanasia is unacceptable and dangerous:

• Its voluntariness is often counterfeit and always questionable. In the Netherlands, doctors have tried to coerce patients, wives have coerced husbands, and husbands wives, to undergo 'voluntary' euthanasia. Elderly people begin to believe that this is what society expects of them and that euthanasia is "brave", "wise" and "progressive". The result, as Dutch Attorney General T.M. Schalken stated in 1984, is that "elderly people begin to consider themselves a burden to the society, and feel under an obligation to start conversations on euthanasia, or even to request it".
• It is often inseparable from, and inherently linked to overtly involuntary forms of euthanasia. There is now ample evidence from Holland, which is the forerunner in liberalizing euthanasia, that 'voluntary' euthanasia is accompanied by the practice of crypthanasia (active euthanasia on sick people without their knowledge). Besides many other recorded cases, one of the most infamous was the report, in 1985, of mass secret killings in the De Terp senior citizen's home in The Hague. A member of the Board of the Dutch Society of Voluntary Euthanasia has pleaded for involuntary active euthanasia for the demented, the elderly, the unconscious victims of road accidents, and Thalidomide-impaired children, while the president of the same society publicly defended the perpetrator of the De Terp killings.
• Society undergoes an ominous change. The elderly are made to feel that society wouldn't mind getting rid of them. The Dutch Patients' Association stated in 1985 that "in recent months the fear of euthanasia among people has considerably increased". In their fears, people do not distinguish 'voluntary' form 'involuntary' euthanasia. A study conducted among Dutch hospital patients showed that many fear their own families because these are the people who could decide or pressure them to request death. Out of fear of euthanasia some elderly people refuse to be hospitalized, to see doctors or to take medicines.
• The promise of 'voluntary' euthanasia is false. Euthanasia is supposed to spare the sick person the agony that precedes death or the sufferings of a prolonged illness. When Wibo van den Linden filmed one Dutch patient's preparations for 'voluntary' euthanasia (shown on national TV), the unfortunate lady displayed extreme anguish and despair as the fixed day of execution approached. The normal way to die, if God permits, is to be surrounded by cherished members of one's family who won't let one go. Euthanasia causes extreme psychological suffering - the exclusion of a person form the community of the living while one is still alive. Because of the cruelty of the procedure, some of the most prominent champions of euthanasia - Foster-Kennedy in America, Lenz in Germany, and van den Benz in Holland - did not even consider 'voluntary' euthanasia and advocated only the covert, involuntary variety.
• It must also be rejected because of the fundamental discrepancy between the uncertainty of human and medical judgments, which are fallible, and the deadly certainty of the act of euthanasia. Patients' requests for euthanasia are often unreliable because of pressures from society and the family. Doctors have traditionally rejected euthanasia because they realized that diagnoses are uncertain and prognoses of the time of death are notoriously unreliable.
• 'Voluntary' euthanasia, is unnecessary because pain and suffering can be controlled. The Hospice Movement has shown that it is possible to control pain, provide companionship and assist terminal patients and families in preparing for death. Hospice patients hardly ever request euthanasia because they do not feel abandoned nor do they feel that they are a burden.
• It should be feared and rejected because of the irreparable damage it causes to medicine. The certainty that the doctor will do everything in his power to help the patient vanishes when euthanasia is allowed. Patients realize that some doctors who are prepared to put patients to death at their own request will also be capable of doing it without a patient's knowledge. In an era of euthanasia, patients' attitude toward doctors is increasingly marked by distrust, suspicion and fear.

Q. What does the Bible have to say?

A. Human beings are not animals but unique beings made "in the image of God" (Gen 1:26-28).
"You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).

Life is a gift from God and the moment of death is God's prerogative.
"Man's days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed" (Job 14:5);
"My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and form those who pursue me" (Psalm 31:15);
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12);
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die" (Eccl 3:1-2);
"...And I hold the keys of death and Hades" (Rev 1:18).

Suffering can be a blessing. "...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Rom 5:3-4);
"Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer ... Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev 2:10).

God can heal even the hopeless cases. "...heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons" (Matt 10:8);
"Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37);
"...who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases" (Psalm 103:3).

Q. What can I do about euthanasia?

A. Start by holding fast to God's revelation about life and death (see Scriptures above). Do not allow humanist thought infiltrate your way of thinking. Paul's warning must be heeded: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Col 2:8). Hold on to the fact that each human being has objective value in an absolute sense, since God declares this to be so. Refuse the relativistic moral code of humanism which results in the killing of the weak, the unborn and the aged.
Be ready to show God's love to the sick and dying. Let them feel wanted and loved, especially when death is unpleasant and painful.
Earnestly seek God for revival. Only the supernatural intervention of God which brings people back to a culture of godliness will be effective in reversing humanism and its culture of killing.

Sources:

• Dr Tony Moll, 'Euthanasia' (unpublished document by Doctors for Life)
• Christian Living Today, 'Euthanasia: Mercy or Murder?' Issue 48
• 'Life and death decisions belong to the Almighty God' South East Christian Witness, May/June 1994
• Richard Fenigsen, 'A Case against DUTCH EUTHANASIA', (The Medical Education Trust) 1989
• ALERT, Euthanasia Update, No. 9, Spring 1994
• 'Euthanasia: Doctor's Duty? Patient's Right?', (HOPE) London 1992
• 'Commentary by Dutch Physicians' League on the Dutch Cabinet Position on Euthanasia.
• 'Genadedood', Die Voorligter, November 1992
• Doris Weber, 'Wer nicht pass, muss sterben' (Publik-Forum Material-mappe) Germany, 1990
• World Federation of Doctors Who Respect Life, April & September 1992
• British Medical Journal, Vol 309, 2 July 1994
• S.A. Strauss, 'The "right to die" or "passive euthanasia": two important decisions, one American and the other South African', University of South Africa, SACJ, 1993
• 'Bill to regulate euthanasia and to provide for matters incidental thereto', South African Law Commission
• Sonia Dias, Letter to the Editor, The Natal Witness, September 3, 1992
• Mr. David Collins, 'Legal withdrawal of life-sustaining medical procedures', International Journal of the Medical Defense Union, 1993, Number 1
• 'UK ban on euthanasia "must stay"', Citizen 17 February 1994

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