ahh, yet another subject I have very strong opinions on that don't usually match anyone else's.
I used to feel the same as you, Pi Rules. I felt it was immoral and wrong to ever consider helping someone to end their life, no matter what the circumstances were.
My oldest brother got cancer about 8 years ago. He fought for six years...and fought HARD. Chemo four times. Radiation twice. Blood transfusions. Surgeries. Experimental treatments even. All of those slowed the cancer at times, but nothing killed it.
In Dec. of 2001, we found out the cancer had spread throughout his bloodstream, his bones and into his brain. At that point, Jim decided it was time to let nature and God choose his fate. He went through no more treatments.
We kept him at home, and took care of him for the last two and a half months of his life, with some help from hospice. To watch my brother lie there writhing in pain, despite MASSIVE doses of Morphine, is something I can't begin to even explain to you. During his lucid times, he BEGGED us to give him too much Morphine. He was ready to die. He was at peace with God. He wanted the extreme pain to end. Yet none of us could do it. None of us felt it was "RIGHT", even though it's what he wanted. He even begged us to put the drugs close enough to him so he could do it himself. Again, no one believed it was right.
However, in the early morning hours of March 8th, my brother died peacefully at last from a massive overdose of Morphine. He had suffered more than you'll ever understand for nearly three months. No one in my family has ever "admitted" to being the one to put the glass of water and the bottle of pills in his reach. And none of us want to know for sure, either. Every family member has their "suspicions" on who it was, but we've all agreed it DOES NOT MATTER. Jim wanted it. There was NO HOPE that he was going to live. The cancer was in his brain, his blood, his bones and EVERY organ of his body. Should he have been left to lie there for days or weeks more, twisting in pain?
I don't believe that euthanasia is 'right' in every case, no. But in THIS case, I honestly believe it was. My brother was my hero, and meant the world to me. I still love him fiercely. But I believe that we should have listened to him two months earlier. That bottle should have been in his grasp when HE chose to have it, not when one of us was ready. Looking back, I truly believe that he had the right to choose to end his life peacefully, and I hope and pray he has forgiven us for not "helping" him sooner.
Please, if you disagree with how this happened, do NOT flame me. I can respect you and your beliefs, but I also ask you to respect mine. Feel free to disagree, that's why I posted this. I LOVE the fact we can make each other step back and think about things in a different way.
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