4 points missed in Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia debates

Assisted suicide can be the result of gaslighting the vulnerable, leading to their murder. How do we know if someone is of sound mind when making this decision? Euthanasia is when someone who is not dying, is actively or passively harmed to precipitate a premature death. These nuances are often lost in translation.

1. Right to refuse heroic care

Catholics already have the freedom to die with dignity, with an uncurable illness. With a curable illness, we are mandated to seek reasonable treatment since our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit. We can say no to any provider, experiment, drugs, tubes and procedures. With a terminal diagnosis, every patient can stop the heroics at any time. The Catholic Church does not mandate extraordinary measures when all evidence shows God is calling us home. 

• Terminal patients should never be forced into a feeding tube or ventilator situation against their will. Once a patient says no to man, God steps in. This means: NO deployment of tubes, needles, BP cuffs, wires, electrodes, IVs, oxygen or probes. All meds can be declined--unless desired. Moreover, the diabetic can have a Snickers. The kidney failure patient can enjoy a steak.

• Conversely, things are different if the intubation or feeding tube is already in place. The 5th commandment prohibits turning off machines that keep a person alive. It is an act of murder. This is when Ethics Committees and Courts get involved. God is the author of life and He may be planning a miracle.

Death with dignity is already an option. It is not about keeping people artificially-alive beyond their wishes.

2. Research and Funding

With Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS, there is no cure, the suffering is unimagineable and the treatment is expensive. This is why the ice bucket-challenge, and its funding, catapulted everything we know about ALS.

• The ALS gene was isolated, called the ORF gene, which carries this genetic mutation.

• There are 2 other types of ALS that are not genetic. They are called Sporadic and Guamanian--whose source is specific to that country.

Now that we know these things, we can focus on how to fix each type. In terminal illness, assisted suicide removes all motivation and incentive to find a cure. 

3. Discrimination

With legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide, safeguards must be introduced to ensure that criterion and classification eligibility are followed and enforced. This sends a negative message to the vulnerable, chronically ill and disabled--whether mental, physical or both. Who decides if a situation is bad enough that suicide is suitable for one but not for those still useful and productive to society? This stratifies people according to worth, a disturbing precedent. What is the definition of "intolerable suffering?" In the Netherlands and Belgium, the mentally ill are being euthanized--to include children with incurable PTSD from sex abuse. How does this encourage pedophilia, rape and incest? That is where this is headed.

4. Equality

The Declaration of Independence states Americans have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Restrictions cannot be imposed that violate human rights. So how can 10 of our U.S. states decide who can live or die? Many in favor of federally legalizing euthanasia emphasize the right to die "with dignity." The flaw here is once legalized, that's not how it works. Because of necessary rules and safeguards, the person must apply to an authority who then decides eligibility. In this debate, the decision is removed from the individual and independence is lost. If anything, choice is relinquished to an authority. This is a disturbing precedent. In essence, we are empowering a governing authority to decide who lives and dies. It is delusional to think equality exists within this landscape.

Man plays God 

The 4th commandment verbiage from Exodus 20:12 states, "Honor they father and Mother that their days may be long in the land that God has given them." Besides our parents, we are commanded to honor those in authority: our teachers, leaders and elders in general, as long as they do not ask us to sin. Remember when St Michael the Archangel asked, "Who is like God?" God made each of us with a clear plan in mind. He made us for a certain time. He puts key people in our lives with precise timing for specific reasons. Only God knows the right time for us to be born. For the faithful, only He knows the perfect time--when our souls are in the holiest state--for us to come home to Him.