Practice essay, teacher liked it. I make In-Classes shake in their silly little boots.
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Death Condoms: I’m Legal (To Die)
Terri Schiavo, a middle-aged American woman, was cut off from life support after 15 years in a ‘persistent vegetative state’. Her husband’s decision to put her sad excuse of a life to an end was a selfless one, however controversial. Not even able to breathe on her own, it is hard for one to think she had a life worth living. Is it not then reasonable to allow the ending of such perpetual discomfort? Those against euthanasia might as well be against painkillers. The right to die lies in the hands of the individual, not those of the government.
It is expensive to be alive, especially—ironically—when on the brink of death. The decision to admit oneself to a hospital, even when in critical condition, is a financially important one. Medical resources and physical space is treasured in hospitals worldwide. So when a patient is admitted ‘indefinitely’, the groans from the economic strain can be heard from many a taxpayer’s pockets. Not to say all critically conditioned people should be given up on for the sake of wealth. Only those who show no clear sign of recovery or have lived in a prolonged state of pain should consider the option of ‘chosen death’. Otherwise, is it worth devoting the majority of one’s cash flow to a cause that will most likely not meet a satisfactory end?
Selfishness seems to be the determining factor when death is a decision to be made. For example: would one deny his long-suffering cancerous mother a pain-free death if offered? The only thing that would make one say no is that one would want to keep his mother alive, just to be alive. Even with more ambiguous cases: a sister who’s been in a coma for years; and uncle who’s suffered severe, irreversible brain damage; selfishness still exists. The margin for recovery is present, but at a certain point one needs to look past his innate want to continue to hold on, and realize its not about him. It’s not him that’s hooked up to those feeding tubes, it’s not him that relies on constant medical attention and nurses to change his bedpans. Fighting to keep a dead person alive isn’t worth the battle.
If someone can decide the fate of an unborn child, one can certainly take responsibility for a lifeless shell of a person. The choices surrounding the completion of a life, while daunting, are those reliably taken on by man. In cases like abortion, the mother is put in charge of the human growing inside her; and rightfully so. Similarly, euthanasia is decided either by a close relative or loved one if the patient is incapable of making the decision—or by the patient themselves, ordering it if their condition progresses to a certain state. The certainty and knowledge of one’s own condition is indisputable. For the same reason we cannot determine when life truly begins, we cannot tell when it truly ends. Because of this, we are forced to rely on someone’s self-knowledge or their loved ones to take responsibility for their life. There is no alternative—human nature must be trusted.
Currently, one requires the approval of a panel of medical professionals to consider the option of euthanasia as an alternative to a patient’s critical, and probably terminal state. Is this what human life has been reduced to? Judged by a handful of doctors who know nothing but a list of symptoms and blood tests? Life is not so easily measured as pulse rate.
How much faith we put in scientific notion, and how little we put in human nature.
Death is considered a tragedy. But it need not be so. Life is something to be celebrated, even the end of it. After a spectacularly amazing play, one doesn’t mourn its finish; one stands up and applauds its splendors. The same should be with the passing of loved ones. Perhaps, with the acceptance of euthanasia into society, this ‘celebration’ might be more commonplace—and let Terri’s death become one of mercy, not murder.
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Legal age = 16 (for heterosexuals; for gay males, it's 18)
You were all wondering, admit it.
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2 comments:
First off, your name’s Miranda and that’s hilarious. I definitely would have called you that had I only known. Second, don’t you Aussies have your own controversies to write about? Surely there’s something wrong with Koala smuggling or something, leave the real issues for the big kids and get back in your sandbox. That said, how are you enjoying the kangaroos? Life goes on more or less as always without you here but we’ve had to rely more and more heavily on others as the official abuse victims (course, they do it in turns alternating from day to day.) I think Max may crack under the stress any day now. Say “hi” to Bruce for me and throw a boomerang for North Salem. Hope you’re doing well.
Well written. What are you doing May 16?
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