Assisted Suicide
Ralph Nielsen nielsen@uidaho.edu
Sat, 8 Nov 1997 20:00:29 -0800 (00879069629, v03007802b08ab9a21637@[129.101.112.121])
>Claire E. O'Connor wrote:
>>
>> > > I think 4 million dollars against an assisted-suicide initiative was
>> > > money very well spent. What I find tragic is that the Catholic Church
>> > > lost this one. I dread the future if assisted suicide becomes
>> > > commonplace. The ones who will be expected to commit suicide will most
>> > > likely be the poor who cannot afford good insurance.
RALPH NIELSEN
That's the way it is now. Millions of people in this country can't any
afford health insurance at all.
In the Netherlands, where there is universal health care, very few people
choose suicide. And then it is mostly to avoid becoming a undignified
vegetable or suffering unbearable pain. My 97-year old father in Victoria,
BC, Canada, doesn't have to worry about who will pay his medical bills,
either, but he would prefer to be put to sleep like a dog or a cat, rather
than to be a helpless, "living corpse" in his last days.
Euthanasia is to be available in Oregon only to those who have 6 months or
less to live, so where does the Catholic Church get the idea that assisted
suicide will be forced on people?
One of the proganda ploys of that church in the Oregon campaign was to weep
crocodile tears over the possibility that the lethal dose might not work
quickly and the patient might linger on in suffering rather than die right
away. To which remark I would ask, "Isn't that exactly what you want them
to do anyway?"
Isn't it weird that the Xians, who claim there is a wonderful life after
death, should be so reluctant to allow poor sick suffering people to go
there as soon as possible?
A few years ago a student here at the University of Idaho hit the nail
right on the head. "These people who claim they are pro-life are really
pro-suffering."