Ending a life. Your choice or theirs?

Carol Forsloff - Abortion is hotly debated,  while  less debated is capital punishment and end of life options; but all three pose ethical and religious questions about who has the right to end
a life. 

The right to end a life is at the heart of many of today’s issues. It surrounds ethics on euthanasia, capital punishment and abortion. It fuels many debates and political decisions, so it’s being discussed widely in the news.

Some believe the questions provoked by who has the right to end a life are foolish to begin with and perhaps should be re-examined as a consequence.The Netherlands  had a movement where some of the elderly maintained they wanted the choice to end their lives at a time when they believed they had lived a "completed life."  This question too became controversial in the social and religious debates of that country.

Waldeman of Politics Daily, observed that the whole debate on abortion should be scrapped. He observes that 69% of people believe abortion is taking of a life and yet 71% believe abortion should be legal. He asks about the unusual dichotomy of those beliefs and the ethical issues about it,certainly something of note.

He ends up by saying, " There should be some sort of compromise on the issue, given the hypocrisy indicated by these percentages and trying to determine what month or what time life begins, that if it is done it should take place as early as possible to save the problems that could come later."

This year, as years before, people continue to ask if euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. Oregon has the law and has found that not that many people actually avail themselves of its use, and therefore have found no dramatic problems have resulted. They have found out that financial issues involved in prolonged illness has played a part in some of the decisions people made.

Still the issue of euthanaisia  remains a debatable topic, front and center, that can be looked at in all of its ramifications at a website on euthanasia while the group that supports it continues to work on legislative acts.

2008 was a good year for death penalty abolitionists,  and Texas has had their fair share this year, as have other states in other years as well.  In 2013 Texas again won the grand prize as the leader of the executions. The choice of ending a life is primarily lethal injections, although death penalty advocates maintain it really does not matter as long as the perp is dead.

Texas also has among the most vociferous folks against abortion and as a mostly Christian state opposes euthanasia too.  So it stands true to the hypocritical belief that it is okay to kill in war or to punish but not to allow a woman to make her own decision about an abortion, which for some faiths takes not a life at all, as some say life begins when the person takes a breath not when there is quickening in the womb.  And Texas offers no option for taking one's own life, or allowing a doctor to it, even when the chances of recovery are slim to none at all.


The whole issue against capital punishment is gaining momentum experts maintain. This may mean fewer and fewer states apt to give the death penalty. Indeed Senator Leland Yee of California believes that long prison sentences for juveniles is tantamount to a death sentence and wants it changed to 25 years to life with review at 10 years.

Who has the right to end a life, whether that is the application of the death penalty, having an abortion of opting to end one's life at a time of one's choice,  is at the heart of discussions that take place in social circles and politics, and if past years, and upcoming events are
any indication, those discussions will likely continue, especially as baby boomers age with their physical disabilities and declining financial resources.

When is euthanasia acceptable?

Vincent Sobotka – Just two days ago, spectators gathered at Surfer’s Paradise, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and turned a wrenching scene filled with potential tragedy into 48-hours of joy and hopefulness. A humpback calf lay beached and suffering. Marine scientists from Sea World, with the assistance of Gold Coast City Council members, revived the whale’s chances for survival, but experts knew the odds remained slim.

Concerns were raised when the mother of the calf had not been spotted during a search in nearby waters. It is estimated that a humpback calf feeds from its mother at least 40 times per-day. Without finding its mother, the calf was not likely to survive and could possibly wind up beached again.

“You can't keep pushing it out; the animal's going to suffer and suffer,” explained Australian Associated Press member Trevor Long, “so the only decision then is that we probably have to euthanize it.” The baby humpback was electronically tagged, to be tracked until reuniting with its mother.

Every year, humpback whales migrate to the Antarctic Ocean for feeding. However, today, Long’s conjecture became an unfortunate reality for the calf recently rescued from certain death. Just off of Brisbane, the humpback calf washed up again this morning, now on the coast of Moreston Island, Australia. Locals were unable to again drag the more than 1.5 ton (1500 kg) mammal back to sea without causing significant harm and fatal suffering to the animal. A team from the Sea World marine park was again summoned, but this time to euthanize the ailing humpback.

Though euthanasia is always a sad solution, and a bigger problem than many realize, one can sometimes accept this as an outcome slightly easier than knowing a living being incapable of improving its own life and so will, otherwise, miserably endure suffering until its death. However, knowing the strict dependency whale calves have on their mothers, as well as the fact that they will suffer injury being transported to deeper waters, to judge when to euthanize a beached infant whale and when to attempt rescue is a moral challenge.

Last month in Riverhead, NY, United States, another whale beached itself against the rocky shores of Montauk beach. Any thoughts of rescue quickly turned to post-death plans of disposal. The whale, bleeding from its injuries, was not euthanized. In fact, no rescue efforts were attempted. Authorities cited federal protocol, which bars them from risking their own lives on the crushing terrain. However, a local reported noted that children approached the whale and attempted to ease its suffering by pouring buckets of water over the animal during low-tide.

Upon comparison of the two scenarios, one is only left to ask who, if anyone, is morally fallacious?

Ethics a struggle for doctors with nearly half supportingphysician-assisted suicide

NEW
YORK - PRN - Carol Forsloff - Studies have shown medical personnel reluctant
to participate in executions because of medical ethics, but ethical
decision-making is the major struggle for doctors involved in the
practice of medicine in general.

WebMD
Health Corp. conducted a survey made by Medscape, a doctor's resource
site that examined physician attitudes about some of the most difficult
decisions they have to make.  10,000 doctors were used to determine the
results.


The August 2010 survey explored ethical
issues including end-of-life, pain treatment, insurance reimbursement,
colleague relations, withholding information from a patient, patient
privacy, and other issues that present moral dilemmas. 



"What came through loud and clear through this survey
is that by and large, doctors try to do what they believe is right,"
said Dr. Steven Zatz, Executive Vice
President, WebMD Professional Services.  "However, the results also
highlight the complex ethical issues confronting physicians and their
efforts to make appropriate decisions."

"Today's doctors face more frequent and more complex bioethical dilemmas than in former times," said Thomas H. Murray, PhD, President of The Hastings Center, a bioethical research institute in Garrison, New York.  "In medicine, the increased power to intervene now requires that doctors make choices whether to do so or not."

One of the hardest decisions for doctors to
make is the literal decision of life or death involved in
physician-assisted suicide.  Green Heritage News editor Forsloff
discussed this with several doctors in Hawaii during the late 1990's,
finding that most doctors provide large doses of medicine to family
members with terminal illnesses, even when they know patients will die
from it.  Surveys of doctors reveal a high percentage of doctors will do that.

The following shows some of the survey findings.  An
additional 16 questions dealing with other crucial physician ethical
dilemmas and the special series can be found at www.medscape.com.

End of Life Care  

When asked whether physician-assisted
suicide be allowed in some cases – results were mixed with 45.8% of
respondents answering "yes"; 40.7% said "no"; and the other 13.5% said
"it depends."

Liability and Medical Error Issues :  

The
majority of doctors 60.1% answered "no" when asked if it was acceptable
to cover up or avoid revealing a mistake if that mistake would not
cause harm to the patient, 19% of respondents said "yes" it was
acceptable, and the remaining 20.9% said it "depends."

Patient Treatment Issues

When
asked whether they would hide information from a patient about a
terminal or preterminal diagnosis in an effort to bolster their spirit
or attitude – 59.8% of physicians would tell it exactly like they see
it; 14.6% admitted they would soften it and give hope even if there's
little chance; 1.7% wouldn't tell a patient how bad it was – unless they
were going to die immediately; and the other 23.8% said it would
depend.

Other Ethical Issues :



On
the subject of whether buying organs for transplant should be legal for
people if they would not be able to receive an organ by waiting their
turn through the national database – nearly 20% of doctors said "yes",
but the majority (66.5%) said "no."  The remaining 13.6% said "it
depends."

Murray
concludes, in reference to these findings, "If a physician recognizes
that he or she is having a tough ethical dilemma, it shows that this is a

morally conscious individual trying to do the right thing."