Euthanasia

Euthanasia should be a way out. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was arrested because he assisted people in ending their own lives because they believe they have nothing left to live for. The people he assisted were people who have terminal illnesses such as ALS—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease; multiple sclerosis; and metastatic cancer.

We hear the conservative Republicans go on about the right to life. What about the right to death? Who has the right to decide for you how you want to end your life? I feel that if there is a pill out there that can put you to sleep, why not? Animals are much more concerned about one another. When an animal sees another that is dying or injured, it takes care of the dying animal by eating it or by helping the injured animal to die easily and quickly rather than suffer a slow and unrelenting death. Death is a certainty for all of us, but do we have to die such a painful, ugly, horrible death that devastates our families? I’m tired of hearing people dictating from on high, these conservatives who want to say what you should do. This is America; where’s our freedom of choice? If I want to die because I have a terminal illness, it’s my right. It’s my right to say to my doctor, “Please give me something to relieve me from this anxiety, from this terrible, painful death.” Why should I have to just sit there and suffer? Yet this is what happens: We suffer, and who has to take care of us? Our families. And our families suffer watching us. But once again, someone pontificates, someone who’s not living the hell of those who are dying of these dreaded diseases.

Today I ran into someone at the Philadelphia International Airport who I had never met before. He said to me that he was a professor at St. Joseph’s, and that he lost his brother at 41 to ALS. Next to him was his sister, who lost her husband, who she had been married to for just a few months, to colon cancer. Yes, these were deaths that were unavoidable, yet they fought. It would have been easier on all had their loved ones died an easier death, if they had been able to take that pill that would have alleviated their pain and suffering.

I believe in euthanasia. I believe in a man’s right to die. I believe in it just as I do a woman’s right to abort. It’s not a man’s decision to say that a lady should have to have a baby she doesn’t want, especially if he isn’t there to take care of her and the baby. Yes, America, we are losing our freedoms daily. But you know where it’s coming from: the man in the White House and his cohorts.* It’s time for a change—time for you to control your own life.
(*Note: Reference is to the Bush presidency.)