The Choice To Die
There is no shortage of people in this world who would like to make society adopt what their imaginary friend - quite frankly, a glorified version of the tooth fairy — supposedly wants the rest of us to do. It is easy for them to make generalizations, false analogies and unfair comparisons of values that aren’t even equivalent. I will be the first one to say that my values will not apply to everyone and a lot of people may not agree with it. That doesn’t stop me from expressing it and fleshing out its detail on my personal soapbox, but at the same time, I stop short of proselytizing. All I can do is to present information, discuss it from my perspective and hope that other people draw something from what I just shared.
This interplay between the dynamism and dogmatic rigidity of people in society make the case of French woman Chantal Serbire not only interesting but also controversial. As you can see in the picture above, Chantala was very sick. She was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer - esthesioneuroblastoma — that aggressively burrows into the sufferer’s face while engulfing soft tissue, muscle and even bone along the way. After eight years of dealing with the untreatable disease, she is grossly disfigured, has difficulty feeding, experiences bleeding episodes and is almost blind. Serbire was found dead in her home last week and her cause of death could not be ascertained as of now.
Though survival rates for the cancer is still quite high compared to the more lethal forms, the disease affects the patient’s quality of life immensely. A longer survival time only correlates to more suffering due to the effects of the disease and due to rare incidence of the cancer, current treatment modalities are still under consideration and there is no definitive way to address the disease. That is why a few years ago, Serbire requested to have doctor-assisted-suicide. She tried to convince the French courts that she had the right to be given a high dose of barbiturates so that her suffering would end. Just like in the Philippines, French law allows people to refuse treatment despite the possibility of death but the law does not allow any form of active euthanasia. As expected the courts, denied her plea.
Personally, I feel like that the right to die is as integral as the right to live. If one really wants to kill oneself, it’s so easy to jump off a building, take a dozen pills (FYI, doctors can prepare pills for terminal patients in some countries) or just be totally creative with the manner of death that they want. But what about those who are suffering badly who can’t physically kill themselves?
Caring for the sick saps the health care provider of energy. The family also channels immense amounts of resources to something that will not have a favorable outcome. Seeing the family member suffer through something he or she wants release from is also taxing emotionally. Why do we have to burden them with this? And for what?
Though I’d hope that I’ll never get to exercise it, I think a society wherein the right to death is a constitutionally-protect ed right would be a step in the right direction.
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For me, dealing with death and dying is one of the hardest lessons to learn in medicine. And, of course, with the number of patients one encounters in daily practice, the learning never ends. Situation even gets sticky when it comes to the point that patient themselves ask you to end their suffering. And you’re right, here in the Philippines, a patient can refuse any form of treatment or he or the relatives can request for a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) but still, no active participation of the physician in assisting patient to die in the manner he wants to. I think when you get to practice already, you’ll realize nothing can really prepare you for the tension that is common in those situations.
Honestly, I think people should retain the right to choose the manner of their death. But since our society is conservative about this, still no physician-assisted life termination will be seen in the near future.
There goes dinner.
On active euthanasia, I agree. From a completely utilitarian/green point of view - if one has decided to give up her life, that’s one less burden the Earth has to sustain.
Eh? That wasn’t even graphic.
I mean, you’ve given birth for crying out loud! That’s the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. hahaha
Only God can take away someone’s life.
Hehehe.
all i can say is: everyone has the right to die. end of story.
Haha, you sure beat them to it. :p
The Western world’s uneasiness with euthanasia is likely a byproduct of the traditional Christian view of suicide as an express ticket to hell. I wonder what the laws are in a place like Japan where suicide is socially acceptable and even honorable in certain situations.
By the way, I was tempted to make a tasteless Muslim suicide bomber joke, but I decided to be nice today. Yay!
Good save! I’m proud of you. haha
We had training about active euthanasia yesterday.I`ve pass your blog add to my juniors, as a reference for their homework. I hope you don`t mind.
No problem, Mister Keen! :p Thanks for dropping by.
this is a very brave post, benj. kudos.
Oh please. Spare the American atheist-imported Islam bashing. Theoretically and even philosophically, Islam is light years more progressive than Catholicism.
W-H-A-T?
W-H-Y?
H-O-W?
What? Islam light years more progressive than Catholicism? That’s like saying a turtle is way faster than a snail.