Euthanasia Ends Suffering

Euthanasia Ends Suffering

Death is deeply personal, generally feared, and wholly inescapable, but medical technology now can prolong our biological existence virtually indefinitely, and, with these advances, comes the question of whether we should pursue the extension of life in all cases. Most people would agree that, under certain circumstances, it would be preferable to cease our hold on life. Nearly everyone can agree that there are situations when terminally ill patients have the right to call for a halt to life-extending treatments, and that their physicians will have the moral obligation to comply. What appears to be quite difficult for us as a society to come to terms with is the thought that someone would actively intervene in the "natural" process of the death of another human being. Why is it tolerable, even desirable, to intervene (with decidedly unnatural technology) in the "natural" process of death when it results in extending life, but intolerable and morally abhorrent when we act to speed the patient to his or her unavoidable death?

Certain members of society see active euthanasia as "killing," where passive euthanasia is viewed in the more favorable light of "letting one die". My question is this: how are the two morally different? Examine the following case:

Perry L. was a nineteen-year-old who played in a local band, loved the outdoors, and planned to become a doctor. One night in 1989 while driving a skidoo he ran headlong into a tree. Perry no longer has any cognitive abilities, he does not recognize anyone that he once knew, he cannot communicate in any way, and he has no meaningful control over his body or its functions. Perry will never recove...

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