I greatly enjoyed this essay because of the controversy it addresses. Over time, the question of euthanasia has been heatedly debated without any conclusions made. On this subject, I myself am not concretely decisive because of the variance in individual situations. I do, however, have my own thoughts.
In “A Crime of Compassion,” Barbara Huttmann gives her point of view that it should be acceptable for medical providers to give in to temptation by the patient to allow death. Unfortunately, however, there is a problem. Many people who are ill have a way for survival, though they may be in pain during treatment.
On this subject, I believe the decision could be ethical whether it allowed or denied euthanasia, depending on the situation.
Pretend you are a nurse and you have a patient much like Mac who is chronically ill and is wasting away into nothingness on a hospital bed. Say there is no chance for survival, and his prolonged life is merely causing emotional stress on all who loved Mac. Mac pleas for death, a way to escape the pain, and find his way back to dwell with his maker. Moreover, his family cries because of his pain, and wants him to die so that he will no longer suffer. It seems that everyone wants Mac to go but your overseeing ‘doctor boss’. Mac looks into your eyes as his entire body is going through necrosis, and his flesh is rotting. Every slight movement shifts pressure to a new sore on his body, making Mac reminisce about the ‘good old days’ when he could move as he desired. Now he can’t even move without unbearable pain. His entire body convulses as he coughs, and he has a tear in his eye. “Please, just let me die,” he asks, but you don’t know what to do. You are torn inside; you love Mac and don’t want to disappoint. You feel that, though others claim you are trying to play God by being the one to let him die, you could also be attacked for playing God because you are the one to sustain the life inside this dying body. You want his happiness, but hate to think he’ll die at your hands.
What do you do?! Is it right to let Mac go? I would be torn in this case, unable to make a decision on the spot. I know I would at least question the thought of letting Mac go, but it would definitely be a matter of prayer and fasting to me.
On the other hand, again you are a nurse. You have a patient, Jill, who is clinically insane. Three times in the last year she has unsuccessfully committed suicide, and is in the hospital because of a self-inflicted deep cut on her wrist. Again, Jill looks into your eyes, tormented by mental and physical pain. She too simply wants a way out of this pain, and a way to her maker. She asks you to let her just die, but what do you do?
In this situation, I personally would give no thought to the option of death. I would only believe it to be an assisted suicide because Jill had a way of straightening out her life.
In conclusion, I believe that this subject is very situation based, and that, depending on the situation, it could be ethical to allow or refuse death. I would not be so bold as to try to play God without first praying about it, and I hope I never come to that decision.
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Due to my blood disorder, I actually connected with Mac in this story. If things came down to worse, I really would just want to die, and when I have had issues with my health in the past, I have wished I could die, because the treatments and social effects were so disgusting, though I was fairly far off from actual death. I agree that with a strong chance that survival and wellness can be the conclusion of an arduous treatment, then life should try to be sustained. In Mac’s case, however, Barbara never mentioned in her writing how high his chances of survival were and with what kind of treatments, so as a reader it is hard to understand what was really the more ethical decision in sustaining his life.
ReplyDeleteThis was a tough article and it addressed a tough situation. I agree with Isaac in that a major factor in this thought process is the chance for survival. On the other hand, miracles have been known to happen in countless circumstances of people who were given little to no chance of surviving and yet they pull through. Thirty years ago, a man in my ward was given less than a year to live. Now, he is an active member of oour ward who got up every morning and faithfully served as our priesthood rep at seminary.
ReplyDeleteReadin this story, I found myself willing the nirse to just let him go. The pain that he must have been going through, and the times that he was so close to death. It would be an incredibly difficult situation that I am not sure anyone really knows the right answer to. I feel so much respect and admiration for doctors who go through situations like this everyday and who do their very best to make the right decisions.
Your post was very interesting and points out some tough questions. I think your right that you must take at each situation individually and decide what is the best for each patient, but at what point do you need to take a step back and just let nature take its course. It’s a tough decision. I agree with Andrea and truly respect doctors who go through these decision making process often. This really is a tough subject and I enjoyed your insights. I agree with you about both the situations you presented. I don’t believe that euthanasia is the correct answer for the suicidal patient because the pain she is enduring can often be fixed. I too think that it is important to take a step back and see what the correct procedure should be.
ReplyDeleteI think that advances in medical tecnology are great and stuff, but what if we were able to prolong life indefinitely. What if we got to the point that we could keep someone "alive" forever. Eventually we'd have to pull the plug. I agree that it's like playing God if you are keeping them alive like that, deciding that it isn't their time to die. Dieing is part of the plan and I think it's ultimately in the hands of our Heavenly Father so I think when becomes simply unnatural we should let people die.
ReplyDeleteI read this one too and all I had to say afterwards was, "YIKES!!!" I think that this topic, much like abortion, will possibly never be solved as easily as a "yes" or "no" question. It all depends on personal opinion and preference. Every case and person is unique in the challanges and angles they bring to the situation so it is impossible to decide either way. And if you do leave the decision up to the person in question, who is to say they are sane enough to make a good and educated decision that is not purely emotional? It's a tough line but I think that is why God knows our hearts, minds, desires, and intentions.
ReplyDeleteReading things like this makes me very glad I'm not in that type of situation--it's akin to being one of those people who decides who gets the organ from a donor. Basically, you hold people's lives in your hands, and you have to tread very, very carefully. While reading the article, I was inclined to take the nurse's side--the patient was begging her to die; his physical suffering was unbearable. However, as we learned in American Heritage, "he who would maintain his own freedom must also protect that of his enemy." Or something like that. Basically, if the nurse were given the go-ahead by administration to let him die, we must also consider the ramifications it would have on other cases--would it make assisted suicide okay? Hard to tell. Who decides when this type of thing is all right? How can we make sure the right choice is always made? Therein lies the difficulty.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really tough subject. I am so glad that I don't have to make those kinds of decisions. It would be so hard to know which option is the best one in situations like this. I think it really does depend on the situation. If a person has zero chance of surviving anyway, what's the point in prolonging their pain? But at the same time, it's hard to know exactly when there really is zero chance of survival.
ReplyDeleteYour post was very interesting, and the way that you addressed the issue really gave me some things to think about. The article was also very interesting. It really made me ponder what should be done in a situation like that.
I do think Huttmann made the right decision in this case, even Mac's wife wanted them to just let him die, but this isn't always the situation, as most everyone has addressed already. I really wouldn't know what to do in this sort of situation but pray. How are we supposed to know what God wants if we don't ask? My dad's a nurse, and when he comes home and says someone died, I'm always shocked at the lack of emotion. I guess if you're so close to death for so long, a certain degree of detachment occurs. Maybe that's what Huttmann was missing. Detachment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else, this is a tough subject. And I also agree that it is a highly circumstantial topic as well. It depends on the circumstance that the individual is in. However I don't know that it is a bad thing that Huttmann was missing detachment, I think if you ever get to the point where death becomes an everyday occurrence, unremarkable, then that is sad. My dad is a doctor and he still is troubled when he sees lives that are unable to be saved. I think that the whole issue of death and life is very complicated and there isn't just one right answer that would apply to everyone in a blanket statement.
ReplyDeleteThis subject is especially close to me right now. Someone I know just found out that her brother was in a coma in the hospital, and that he only has a few days left. What she told me surprised me though. Through the tears, she told me that it was for the best, he wouldn't be in pain anymore. I can't imagine having to stand in the place of that nurse or doctor, but I think she did the right thing.
ReplyDeleteI love reading things about controversial issues. Although usually the bantering and arguing will never solve anything; it is nice to have some food for thought every once in a while. I agree with Virginia that this may never be solved. Ever. There are just too many people with too many different opinions. All of them are in the name of respect.
ReplyDeleteDo not kill the person, because we respect them and want them to live as long as possible.
Take them off life support, because we respect them and do not want them to suffer.
Either one could be right, we never know. I would like to say that I am brave enough to end the suffering of an inevitably dying person. But when it came down to that moment in time, I do not think that I would have the strength or courage to end someone's life. It would haunt me for the rest of my life. Where as if I let them suffer, their pain would not haunt me. As long as I kept myself separated. So my answer is I don't know...
There is nothing worse than having a life put in your hands and having someone ask you to make a choice over it. Even just imagining it is too much for me to handle.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that respect for the will of the dying is an important issue. If that was happening to me, I would just want to die. To be rid of that kind of thing and just let go. But at the same time, is that really what God wants?
I like Ethan's suggestion, although it only works for the religious. Kneel down, say a prayer.
Only God knows what the best decision is, and if everything is put into his hands, I have a feeling that it will all be okay. Even if it doesn't seem like it at first.
I though that this article did a good job addressing the subject. However, I feel like it is hard for us to truly understand the issue without hearing the perspectives of the other people involved (the doctor, family members, Mac himself).
ReplyDeleteIts difficult to understand why keeping someone alive, when they are in such pain, is humane. Everyone has their own reasons, I suppose.
To a lesser degree, I have had an experience making such a decision. When I was in seventh grade, my pet rabbit contracted an infection that basically began to eat away her bones. We did everything that we could to help her, but it got to the point that we were only prolonging her misery. After lots of tears, we decided that it was best to put her down. Although the loss was difficult for me, I knew that it was in her best interest. I feel that such decisions must be made on an individual basis; there is no universal solution.
I agree, there is no universal solution. There are too many stipulations, caveats, rules, and whatnot to create guiding laws for this. I believe life to be absolutely precious and never to be wasted, but, sometimes, there are cases where there is nothing but pain for the victim.
ReplyDeleteI had a thought while reading this essay -- could it be that in some cases, where people pray for death to come to them, other people are supposed to be the answer to their prayer? In the case of Mac, for instance: Huttmann didn't actively kill him in any fashion -- Mac was going through the natural processes of a cancerous death. His lungs were failing, and he couldn't breathe without assistance. He stops breathing. Had Barbara not been present, that would have been the end of Mac right there, and that would have been natural, no ones fault. Barbara's presence, however, is the differing factor -- could it be that in refraining to push the button in this one instance that Huttmann was rightly answering this man's prayers for death? Could it be that perhaps Heavenly Father was waiting to see who would have the courage to let Mac go?
Bless You! The courage required to just sit there and do nothing was more courage than I have ever had before or since. Now, almost 40 years later, having sacrificed my nursing career for admitting I did nothing, Ashley empathizes. Thank you Ashley.
DeleteBarbara Huttmann
Wow, this was hard. I didn't expect to agree with her so quickly and strongly. She's very persuasive. And really it's because she was so honest. She didn't have an alterior motive for her choice. She only wanted him to be cout of pain. It really hit me when she expalined how we have become obsessed about degying God's plan. When it comes to cases like this,the doctor isn't being charitable to save the patient--he's being power hungry. The foucus isn't the patient, it's the doctor/hospital.
ReplyDeleteI loved this essay. Ever since a guy in our ward died, I have been thinking about the concept of death. Every story people mention about death heightens my interest. Not that I am suicidal and am looking for good ways to kill my self… but I return again to the movie Wit. I quoted it in another one of my responses. The scholar and the future scholar are discussing metaphysical poetry and how the punctuation on the last line is important. How instead of making Death an exclamation point, it is a comma. A mere pause separating “live and life everlasting”. So interesting and beautiful! Death is just a pause in our life. I think that it is awful that if a person is pleading for death (with no chance of survival), that it cannot be given to him.
ReplyDeleteEuthenasia is a big controversial subject and I thought it was really cool that this essay talks about it. If we made euthenasia completely legal, imagine how many "compassionate" deaths there would be. Nurses or doctors who have evil intentions might purposefully pull the plug on someone who did not want to die, but no one would ever know.
ReplyDeleteMany people are not very coherent when in extreme pain. Whenever I have feel a lot of pain, I always think "I would rather die than bera this any longer!" Other people are like that too. In a moment of severe pain, they feel like they would rather die, but they do not usually mean it. In terms of euthenasia, how are we supposed to know if the person means it or not?
In addition, what if it's not the person's time to die? What if God still has a mission for that person who is in pain lying in a sick bed in the hospital to fulfill? What if the pain and the illness are just a temporary trial or test of faith?
Euthenasia should not be allowed, in my opinion. Death should happen naturally and when God wishes it. No one else should have a say in another's death or help someone die, it's wrong.