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Let’s not delude ourselves. A major thrust is underway to legalise euthanasia. The topic is beginning to surface with some regularity, most recently in the suicide of a woman in
Coogee, a case the advocates of euthanasia have ensured has had a wide media coverage. Their aim is to make the acceptance of euthanasia seem so widespread and so natural that people start to wonder why it wasn’t
thought of ages ago. Is it just coincidence or is it editorial policy that the great majority of letters to newspapers on this topic are in favour of euthanasia?
Euthanasia is an emotional topic, not least
because those who advocate it want to make it so. Emotion is impatient of logical debate. Those who favour euthanasia disdainfully brush aside any argument contrary to their own position. We must counter by being as
objective and as reasonable as possible.
Before we look at some of the aspects of this issue, we should deal with the absolute foundation on which respect for life is based. This absolute foundation is God
and his commandments. Those who believe in God have no difficulty in accepting the moral precepts which safeguard life. But it would be naïve for anyone to think that the argument that euthanasia is contrary to the
law of God will end the discussion, for it will fall on deaf ears when it comes to those who admit no allegiance to God and (in many cases) to anyone else.
God’s prohibition against killing is not an
arbitrary commandment unrelated to our human situation. It is an expression of what is deep within human nature and, if followed, will ensure that human nature in all its complexity will continue to be a blessing
and not a curse. It is up to us to show the shaky ground on which the case for euthanasia rests.
We will begin with the word itself. ‘Euthanasia’ has nothing to do with either ‘youth’ or ‘asia’ as one might
think from its pronunciation, but means ‘easy death’. It comes from the Greek ‘eu – easy’, and ‘thanatos – death’. ‘Easy death’ is a euphemism for deliberate killing. ‘Easy death’ fits into the same category as the
‘throwaway society’. The message is, enjoy yourself, take all you can and, when the going gets tough, just snuff your life out. Carried to its extreme – and who can be sure that the extreme will not be reached? –
suicide could become as common as going on an overseas trip.
Advocates of euthanasia have fastened on to the phrase, ‘the right to die’. This has two elements to it, ‘right’ and ‘die’. First of all, the word
‘right’. The mentality behind the use of this word is that whatever you want can be called a right. This puts the onus on others to disprove the claim.
Then there is the word ‘die’. Like it or not, we all
know that some day we will die. It is part of our everyday experience. With euthanasia, however, the person is not going to die but is going to be killed, either by himself or by someone else. We are immediately in
a different situation. Killing is always repulsive. It is the termination of life by force. The force used to end life need not be violent, just enough to do the trick. And the patient need not be aware of what is
happening. He or she could be so sedated that there is no awareness that at a certain point there is an intervention which effectively puts an end to life.
Euthanasia has been legalised in the Netherlands. It
is significant that this has been done by statute, which is by way of exception to the general law while the general law of respect for life itself remains in place. To remove the general law would enable killing in
any circumstance.
The topic of euthanasia is a very broad one. Space does not allow of more than the merest introduction. It is significant that concerned people in every area of life – medical, social,
religious, to name a few – are making their views known, effectively countering the arguments of those advocating euthanasia. But these latter are coming at the issue from a different tack. While they speak with
apparent reasonableness they are in effect playing on the emotions of a sizeable proportion of the population. They are hoping for a groundswell in favour of their point of view. It is up to those who respect life
to be alert to all the deceptions paraded as reasons.
In the most fundamental way, the survival of our society is at stake in this battle now being joined. We are threatened not just by the number of deaths
attributable to the mindset of euthanasia but by the collapse of the values essential to our corporate and individual wellbeing.
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