To Kill or Not to Kill

In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley shows an example of the widely debated topic of doctor-assisted deaths, or euthanasia. Formerly called “mercy killing,” euthanasia means making someone die rather than allowing them to die naturally. In Huxley’s novel the futuristic “World-State” uses euthanasia for everyone who is no longer “useful to society.” “Death with dignity,” has become a catch phrase used by euthanasia activists, but there’s nothing dignified about killing someone. Being gassed to death with carbon monoxide, suffocated with a plastic bag, and injected with lethal poison are common inhuman ways “doctors” have helped their patients to die. Although people who are terminally ill should not be forced to stay alive nor to suffer, the alternative, euthanasia, is against the law, for it pressures people emotionally and psychologically into death, and it is not a reliever of pain.

Suicide has been legalized in the United States, and some think it’s only fair to do the same with euthanasia. Since suicide has been made legal, there are more suicides everyday than homicides, but suicide and euthanasia are quite different and should not be confused with each other. Suicide is a tragic event dealing with one person acting by him or her self, but euthanasia is not about a private act. It is one person doing something that directly kills another. If euthanasia was legalized it would only lead to abuse and erosion of health care for the most vulnerable people.

Some activists say euthanasia would only be at a patient’s request and no one would be forced into dying. Although physical force is highly unlikely, emotional and psychological pressure could overpower someone feeling depressed or dependent on people. Much like in Brave New World when John, “the savage” kills himself because could not accept the life-style that the “super-society” wanted to impose on him. If the choice of euthanasia became available as well as a decision to receive good health care, many people would feel guilty for not choosing death. Too often many people feel like a burden to others especially because of financial situations. Proper health care is an expensive cost of living and slowly more states are cutting back on health care coverage for poor state residents. This again may lead some to believing they are a burden to others and again may choose death out of guilt. Even the smallest gesture could create a gentle nudge into the grave.

Major organizations, including Choice in Dying, believe that people have a natural fear of suffering and dying. They try to make dying look as non-painful and as accepted as possible by making greeting cards saying, “I learned you’ll be leaving us soon,” and creating advertisements showing pictures of a peaceful death with loved ones around. (6) Do these gestures really help or even tell the truth? Killing is not the way to end excruciating pain. Often times the death is more painful than life. Lethal injections often cause muscle spasms and great pain that are awful for a family to witness. (1) Everyone, whether it’s someone with a life-threatening illness or a chronic condition, has the right to pain relief. With modern advances in pain control, no patient should ever be in excruciating pain. However, most doctors have never had a course in pain management so they’re unaware of what to do. If any patient is in so much pain they would rather die, a different doctor should be consulted. But that doctor should be someone who will control the pain, not one who will kill the patient. The solution to pain is better educating health care professionals, not taking somebody’s life.

In the Unites States, “active euthanasia,” killing a person who is awake and able to make decisions, remains to be a serious crime, punishable by life imprisonment, while “passive euthanasia,” disconnecting any mechanical respirators that are keeping a comatose patient alive, may be conducted in over thirty states. Problems continue to rise between doctors and families of the patient. Enduring ethical questions rise when it comes to euthanasia and the choice to die. Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World showed no compassion for those who didn’t have, “any serious work to do.” Society must realize that dying is a part of living and it is completely natural. Remember that euthanasia is not about giving rights to the person who is killed, but instead about changing the law so that doctors, relatives, and others can intentionally kill another with an excuse. Euthanasia is not about the right to die, it’s about the right to kill.

Bibliography

Works Cited

Mackey, Daniel. “Don’t Legalize Euthanasia.”

http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~dmackey/Euthanasia.htm> 28 Nov. 1999

Euthanasia. CD-ROM. Grolier Interactive. 1997

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