The Case of Ramon Sampedro
The case of Ramon Sampedro and his euthanasia in 1998 is one of the most well-known and arguably most contentious real-life euthanasia tales. Ramon, who was paralyzed from the waist down following an accident 29 years prior, has finally passed away. Death was all he ever desired. Ramon was paralyzed, so there was no way for him to commit suicide on his own, making his case for euthanasia rather than a straightforward suicide. This is why Ramon's suicide was so well-known and the subject of intense debate. Euthanasia, after all, is defined by Medicine.net as "the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering." There was no way for Ramon to die without any help. Since euthanasia is illegal in Spain, not to mention the heavy influence of religion on Spanish culture, different courts and the Catholic Church rallied against his decision to die. The heated debate around his death and the threat of implicating those around him is what led to the famous video of Ramon Sampedro in front of a camera, willingly sipping cyanide through a straw. While Ramon’s case was heavily publicized and rare because there was no way for him to access euthanasia on his own, a lot of people in similar situations are less known because they are more successful. That being said, it seems only logical for the right to die to equate the right to live. The concept of freedom of choice holds, even in the situation of life and death.
The Pressing Questions of Euthanasia
The pressing questions of euthanasia is not whether it is moral or immoral, ethical or unethical, good or bad. The answer or arguments that ensue rom answering those questions will always be debatable and subject to personal moral judgment and belief system. However, the question is: Should it be allowed? And the answer is yes. Take the life of Ramon for example. He was very vocal about wanting to die. For 29 years, that’s all he ever talked about. Yet he was deprived of that choice both by society and his own physical limitations. Had there been another way for him to take his own life, he would’ve done it already. One could even go as far to say as he was forced to live beyond his will.
The Hippocratic Oath and Euthanasia
The Hippocratic Oath famously begins with “First, do no harm…” It is the universal creed that all physicians swear by as they begin their medical practice. If we apply it to the context of euthanasia, what happens when living does more harm than dying? Is the irreversibility of ending one’s life really worse than prolonging the inevitable? In October 2010, Miss Diane Pretty, who suffers motor neurone disease that disintegrates her body was refused assistance in choosing the circumstances of her own death. (Doyal and Doyal 2001) Rather than being allowed to seek consult of physicians who could assist her, legalities leave her options to a risky, morbid and traumatic suicide, probably not unlike Robin Williams’ hanging after severely degenerating post diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s disease. (Smith 2015) Patient autonomy and preservation of dignity are absolutely crucial in this argument. The same way you cannot force a patient to take medication he doesn’t want to, you cannot tell a person that they have to live with their terminal illnesses.
The Role of Religion in Euthanasia
The most solid argument for why euthanasia is still illegal in majority of the world remains mostly religious. Most religions stand firm that physicians must not play God. Life is not theirs to take away. But what is life exactly? For some of these patients, there is no more life in lying down on a bed, racking up hospital bills in agonizing pain. There is no life in knowing you have an increased risk of just dropping down there on some corner of the street and die, helpless, with no one in sight. What is the life in waiting to die? Euthanasia is not as simple as a physician assisting the patient to die. In the Netherlands, the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2008, the law clearly states that “patients have no absolute right to euthanasia and doctors no absolute duty to perform it". The Dutch Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act provides criterion on individuals who qualify for the euthanasia.
The Therapeutic Use of Euthanasia Requests
Joris Vandenbergh, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Leuven, said in an interview that euthanasia requests are even “therapeutically useful” and in fact most of his patients choose life even when they were approved for euthanasia. This is because having the option encourages patients to seek medical help when they would’ve otherwise gone elsewhere. They reach out to a reliable medical practitioner who is able to guide into a decision-making process on their own.
The Controversy of Legal Abortion and Euthanasia
The controversy of legal abortion is similar to that of euthanasia. “Pro-life” groups would argue that one must always choose life regardless of the circumstance. “Pro-choice” groups argue that it depends on what the quality of life that person could have. Freedom is the ability to do whatever you want until you violate that of someone else’s. That freedom must be preserved even when a patient is dying, even when a patient is distraught and confused and oftentimes more concerned about the circumstances surrounding his final hours. A mentally stable patient should always have the last word.
References
/Works CitedAviv, Rachel. "Who Has the Right to Die?" The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 14 June 2015. Web.
Doyal, Len, and Lesley Doyal. “Why Active Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide Should Be Legalised : If Death Is in a Patient’s Best Interest Then Death Constitutes a Moral Good.” BMJ : British Medical Journal 323.7321 (2001): 1079–1080. Print.
Fraser SI, Walters JW Death - whose decision? Euthanasia and the terminally ill Journal of Medical Ethics 2000;26:121-125.
Jordan, Gregory. "Into the Life of a Man Fighting for the Right to Die." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Dec. 2004. Web. Justitie, Ministerie Van Veiligheid en. "Euthanasia, assisted suicide and non-resuscitation on request - Euthanasia." Euthanasia | Government.nl. Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 05 Oct. 2016. Web
Smith, Nigel M. "Robin Williams' widow: 'It was not depression' that killed him." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Nov. 2015. Web.
