Before jumping into any analysis: Let’s just first know what EUTHANASIA is? Many people are unknown or partially known to this practice… We the people of India (those who are aware of this practice) mostly disfavor it… Because we practice THINK-WITH-HEART rather than THINK-WITH-BRAIN (including the fact that it will be for the good of that living soul)… So, now comes the part where we need to know what it is-
Euthanasia: Comes from the Greek word ‘Eu’ (good) and Thanatosis (death).
It’s also known as ‘good death’ or ‘mercy death’… Death to those who no longer are in a position to suffer their incurable disease or unbearable ache!
It can be classified into the following:-
Active and Passive.
Alternatively into Involuntary.
Involuntary and Non-voluntary.
The ways to euthanasia are:-
Lethal Injection where an injection of a lethal dose of drug is given.
Asphyxiation where some gases like Carbon Monoxide CO etc. are used.
Dr. Kevorkian’s death machine (mercitron, thenatron). He is also known as the Dr.Death where a person can kill himself using that machine.
Seems like WHAT? But it isn’t… It’s a way for a person to finally get rid of his/her affliction and suffers… We believe in Karma… We believe in God… So why not help people to be in peace… It’s very hard to see the people we love being in pain… Having their heart wailing for only one thing that is to get rid of that dreadful situation anyhow… to overcome the sufferings and submit themselves to the hands of almighty forever in peace… Why suddenly take a decision to be termed as a failure isn’t it?! The question arises to each one’s brain! Why give up? Life comes just once… So live it… but wait… here comes the line… ‘Live it till you can’… The point of saying this isn’t Suicide… Self-slaughter is merely fragile way of a chicken heart to show the weakness he/she possesses… it wouldn’t be treated as a RIGHT! But Euthanasia has a different prospective… It means bringing an end to a diseased person or wailing person’s life for the sake of their life being one hell of a ride… So that when they are put in front of the Almighty, they can say, that yes, I know what pain is but I had a life worth lived to the fullest…
Today I would like to share my view regarding Mercy Death that- Maybe I say maybe it sounds too harsh if we support EUTHANASIA… But it’s for the ease of those who can no longer have both physical or mental strength & stability to agonize. Doctors and Law are supporting Good Death for a good cause and I personally think should be practiced when the case seems utmost relevant and necessary…
Let’s see EUTHANASIA as not DEATH but as a life to live in the heaven’s with the angels with purity, serenity, love and most importantly without any pain… We love them too but our eyes would be happier to see a pair of eyes closed with relief than a pair of eyes vivid with torment of life.
The truth is that if there is a legal right to life, it implies life with dignity. Allowing people to live in servitude or under abject conditions is not what life ought to be. Similarly, the right to a life with dignity also implies the right to die with dignity — unless a person is convicted of a crime. Even Mahatma Gandhi is on record supporting this right.
It is this awareness that has persuaded several countries to legalise the ‘Living Will’ or ‘Advance Directive’. This allows a person to make a will, when he is in full possession of his mental faculties, stating that he would not like to be put on life support systems if he is incapacitated or unable to communicate or in a vegetative state. Behind this “will” is the recognition that nobody can be ‘treated’ against his will, unless he is a threat to society. If I have a severe heart attack and need immediate surgery to save my life, I am within my rights to refuse this. In fact, I can also refuse any type of treatment. If I can exercise this right today, when I am in full possession of my mental faculties, why can’t I decide this for a future date in anticipation of a situation when I might not be able to articulate this?
This brings us to the third myth. That once voluntary euthanasia is allowed it will open the floodgates to suicides. Wrong. Take the case of Dignitas, the non-profit movement in Switzerland which accepts requests from around the world to end a miserable and terminally painful existence. During the past 17- years only 12,360 people from the entire world have opted for assisted suicide. India saw only two such cases.
In fact, the numbers could be a lot higher. But not through Dignitas. Many sympathetic doctors, when they see no hope for a patient, counsel the family that it is best to take the patient off life support system and allow him to die peacefully. Behind this sympathetic approach is the awareness that terminal illness can bankrupt any middle class family — both emotionally and financially. However, fearful of social, and legal, consequences, most families are compelled to borrow money to keep a terminally ill person alive. That is why legalising the “Living Will” is crucial. It protects doctors and a patient’s relatives. And it allows for a death with dignity.
What about assisted suicide? That too should be allowed, after an authorised panel of doctors agrees that this is the best way out. A clutch of countries have already legalised this — the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In the US too, the states of Oregon, Montana, Washington and Vermont permit euthanasia under specific conditions and a strict medical protocol
So, Now YOU arrive at a conclusion what’s best!
