EUTHANASIA
Arguments in Favor of Euthanasia:
1.
Personhood – The
argument is simple: someone in an irreversible coma is no longer a person but only a biological
organism. The distinction is often made between a person’s biological life, or physical
existence, and one’s biographical
life, or the aspects of one’s life that make it meaningful. One’s biographical
life is the sum total of one's goals, desires, dreams, plans, accomplishments
and relationships. Medical science has made it possible to retain one’s
biological life after having lost one’s biographical life. Thus the individual
exists only as a body, having lost the essence of what it is that makes him/her
a person. Hence it is not murder to terminate what remains of one’s mere
biological existence.
2.
Quality of Life – In cases of unrelenting and unrelievable suffering where there is no reasonable hope of
improvement, life ceases to be worth living. In such cases, an individual or
his/her family ought to be free to say “enough is enough” and put an end to
such incessant misery. No one should be compelled to live a life that they no
longer regard as life worth living.
3.
Mercy – We extend mercy to animals when we put them out of
their misery. Why should we be less merciful to humans?
4.
Utilitarian concerns – Most people
cannot afford to underwrite the expense of keeping a terminally ill or comatose
person alive. To do so places an unfair burden on other members of the family.
Why should tax dollars and precious hospital space and technology be expended
to perpetuate the life of someone who will never function in society again when
there are other, potentially productive people, who cannot receive proper care?
Sam Storms
Euthanasia, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
Arguments Opposing Euthanasia:
1.
The Sanctity of Life – Human life,
because created in the image of God, is sacred. No measure is too extreme, no
cost too high, to preserve what God has made.
2.
Biblical prohibition vs. life-taking – Killing
the innocent is condemned in both the OT and NT.
3.
Hope – Medical history is filled with examples of people
thought to have incurable/terminal diseases who were later healed when medical
knowledge increased.
4.
The value of suffering – The Bible says
that people grow and mature and deepen in their understanding of and trust in
God when they endure suffering. In other words, there is a sanctifying effect
in physical suffering.
5.
The biblical perspective on death – Death
is the final indignity, no matter what form it takes. Death is the last enemy,
to be resisted, not embraced.
6.
Divine healing
7.
The Slippery Slope – “Euthanasia
will not be restricted to the terminally ill. Rather, it will be extended to
people with varying quality of life circumstances. Opponents [of active
euthanasia] fear that candidates for euthanasia will include the nonterminally ill, such as people with Alzheimer's disease
or other degenerative brain diseases, the severely mentally retarded, and
handicapped newborns” (Rae, 173).
Sam Storms
Euthanasia, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.