Main Feature
The Argument for Euthanasia Through The Ages
Genine Hanns, Victoria
Volume 33 Issue 1, 2 & 3 | Posted: March 28, 2019
The 5th Century Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, made this famous quote on human existence. He said: “Quality is better than quantity.” If you are a person suffering from terminal cancer or Aids, you would certainly agree with that, in fact, most people would agree with it. When your beloved pet becomes old and ill, you have the vet put him to sleep because you do not want him to suffer. Humans are more advanced on the evolutionary scale, but are pets more important than people when it comes to suffering? Should people not be given the same compassion as their pets?
In July my friend Geneva contracted breast cancer. She was 44. By the time she consulted a doctor it had spread too far; it was terminal. Geneva went before a panel of doctors who agreed that assisted suicide could be given. Geneva was to choose the time and date of her death, and in that way the preparations for her departure could be planned.
The 5th Century Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, made this famous quote on human existence. He said: “Quality is better than quantity.” If you are a person suffering from terminal cancer or Aids, you would certainly agree with that, in fact, most people would agree with it. When your beloved pet becomes old and ill, you have the vet put him to sleep because you do not want him to suffer. Humans are more advanced on the evolutionary scale, but are pets more important than people when it comes to suffering? Should people not be given the same compassion as their pets?
In July my friend Geneva contracted breast cancer. She was 44. By the time she consulted a doctor it had spread too far; it was terminal. Geneva went before a panel of doctors who agreed that assisted suicide could be given. Geneva was to choose the time and date of her death, and in that way the preparations for her departure could be planned.
If you think this is a celebration party where the patient triumphs over the disease, it’s not true. The disease ceases, but it is no party to face death, even if you want to die.
Geneva had a particularly hopeless and gloomy attitude towards her disease as some people do. She refused to fight her illness; she did not get chemotherapy, which could have prolonged her life. I am of the belief that assisted suicide is not particularly painful, although I could be wrong. It was Geneva’s life, however, and her choice, and so she was given medical assistance to die.
Assisted suicide came largely to the fore with Canadian right-to-die activist, Sue Rodriguez, The forty-two year old housewife was diagnosed with amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease,) a terminal illness that is both physically and mentally painful.
Sue’s unforgettable quote was: “If I can’t give consent to my own death, whose body is this? Who owns my life?” She came head to head with the Supreme Court of Canada and lost by a narrow vote of 4-3 in September of 1993, but she eventually received assistance to die. Euthanasia has been in and out of the press since then and now it is back.
When I was a teenager my favourite TV show was “The Mickey Mouse Club.” My favourite Mouskateer was Annette Funicello and I am sure I am not the only one who adored her. In 1978 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This is a debilitating disease, which affects your body and as well as your mind. Annette fought MS for twenty-five years. In 1993 she organized a fund for neurological diseases where people could donate to fight illnesses of the mind.
During the last five years of her life, her husband produced an Internet video, begging people to watch and see the mental and physical agony Annette went through so they could help any way they chose. I know Annette died in April of 2013. I pray someone assisted that lovely woman who gave such joy and laughter to everyone.
If a person is in the advanced stages of a terminal disease then no doubt the family is prepared for it and does not refuse euthanasia, but some people think you should go on to the bitter end to gain some sort of reward in heaven. We have no hard evidence to support that as true. These people usually have strict religious beliefs.
If a person commits suicide on his or her own then the family immediately goes into a state of guilt, morbidity, and self-blame. I have talked with psychologists about this subject and the act of committing suicide is done with a deep desire to end their pain when they have exhausted all possibilities of ending it, not to get back at their family for wrongs they supposedly have done. You can feel sad if a loved one commits suicide, but not angry, guilty, or responsible because the decision had nothing to do with you. You can’t live for others and you can’t think for others. You would also not know what was in the mind of the loved one; how much he was suffering and what was the limit he could take. You are not in his skin or his mind.
There are people who have been diagnosed with chronic long-term depression, manic depression disorder, (or Bi-Polar disorder), Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, and Paranoid Schizophrenia. Our beloved Canadian singer and poet, Gordon Downie, leader of the Tragically Hip, died of Glioblastona, a cancerous brain tumour that could not be operated on.
In 2006 I watched a video called “The Bridge,” directed by Eric Steel. Ironically most of the people who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge had a mental illness. Some had Aids and some had forms of terminal cancer, but mostly it was diseases of the mind. Professional psychiatrists had examined all of these illnesses and they could lessen the patient’s symptoms but could not cure the disease.
They would have these afflictions for the rest of their lives. Could we not see them then as terminal? Could we not give them the same offer of assisted suicide if their lives became intolerable, rather than have such a shocking and appalling experience of hearing they have jumped from a high bridge or building to end their insufferable lives? I believe the choice of euthanasia will come to the mentally ill eventually, but meanwhile they have to suffer.
I am not a religious person by denomination, but I am a spiritual person who believes in a Creator of this universe. Is suicide or assisted suicide a crime? My answer is: “I don’t believe a Creator would punish a person for not be able to handle their unbearable life.”
Genine Hanns is a published poet and novelist.
Genine Hanns, Victoria