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.

Arson 'witchcraft' may have been used to execute an innocent Texas man

Carol Forsloff - “Obviously
the most troubling aspect of this - and it just dwarfs everything else -
is whether or not to believe that an innocent person has been executed
by the state of Texas.”

Williamson - police photo

With
that Judge Charles Baird of Austin, Texas announced he will be
conducting a court of inquiry on October 6-7 to determine whether
Cameron Willingham was wrongfully convicted and executed for the death
of his three daughters in a fire originally deemed to be an arson.

The
Death Penalty Information Center is following the case and issued a
statement about it a few days ago.

Willingham
was sentenced to death by the state of Texas for murdering his three
daughters—two year old Amber Louise Kuykendall, and one year old twins
Karmon Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham by setting his
house on fire in 1991.  It was alleged that lighter fluid kept on the
front porch had been used to set the fire and that Willingham had done
it in order to cover up abuse of his daughters.  That evidence was
provided by a jailhouse inmate, recalling what he said were some of
Willingham's statements with reference to the crime.

Willingham
maintained his innocence up until his execution.  Execution took place
by lethal injection on February 17, 2004.  There have, however, been
serious questions raised about the forensic evidence and whether or not
an accelerant had actually been used to start the fire.  Investigators
and forensic experts have disagreed about the evidence.


Attorneys representing Willingham's relatives, including former Texas
Governor Mark White, say they are “prepared to put on witnesses that
will be persuasive that the forensic evidence was tantamount to
witchcraft.” In August, the Texas Forensic Science Committee issued
preliminary findings that the forensic science used as evidence against
Willingham was flawed forensic science.

The
Tribune in October 2004 reported on arson myths and how many arson
investigators have refused to accept updated ways of determining fire
causation.  An article pointed to a woman in Georgia who was put on
trial for murder of her husband by arson at a time when arson
investigators are questioning accidental fires labeled as arson.The
prosecution of Beverly Jean Long for the 2003 murder of her husband in
rural Georgia reveals a tale of two mistakes, the newspaper article
alleges.

During
its investigation of arson investigations by forensic experts the
Tribune wrote, "For
decades, arson investigators relied on a collection of beliefs and folk
wisdom that was accepted as truth.  In the last 30 years, however, many
of these one-time certainties have been exposed by research and
laboratory tests as unclear or just plain wrong."

Investigators
who provide forensic evidence in court are to pass higher standards to
testify in recent years, as a more scientific approach to
studying fires and their origins has been established.  The criticism
of arson cases prior to 2000 was that they were not done with proper
scientific analysis.  Willingham was convicted of murder in 1992.

These
are now the concerns of Texas lawyers and a judge who is presiding over
an investigation to determine whether faulty evidence, labeled a type of folklore or "witchcraft,"  was used to

execute an innocent man.