Euthanasia, the Right to Die with Dignity — II

“Let me not beg for my pain to be eased, but rather let me have the courage to master it. Grant me not to be a coward, but let me feel that your hand supports me in my failure.” - Rabindranat Tagore

Euthanasia is a procedure based on the voluntary shortening of the life of someone who, suffering greatly due to a debilitating illness, requests it.

The Euthanasia Society was founded in England in 1935. However, there are historical facts that prove that it was practiced much earlier. In Sparta, they sacrificed children with malformations; the Britons annihilated individuals with incurable conditions; Hindus were drowned in the Ganges, and Plato advocated the establishment of disciplinary measures to protect those who were healthy in body and mind, while those who were not should be allowed to die.

We must not forget Hitler either, who gave reasons for the creation of a new type of Euthanasia: eugenic-economic Euthanasia. On September 1, 1939, Hitler issued a sinister decree — like everything that came from him — in which he urged “certain doctors” to personally identify — in order to proceed with their termination — those people who, after a “deep” medical examination (appearance or name in Hebrew), were declared incurable. In this way, he wiped millions of innocent people off the map. This type of Euthanasia is an improper form in its application, since for an unscrupulous regime it constitutes a seemingly legal means to finish off its opponents.

The Euthanasia Drama

There are those who call Euthanasia “the Euthanasia Drama”, because there have been cases that have shocked public opinion, cases in which the “criminal act” was carried out by relatives or people close to the patient, who, disregarding ethical dogmas and with no other intention than the desire to abolish the pain of loved ones, carried out atrocious acts. These have happened in other countries, but not in Venezuela. I will mention just one of them: “in 1950 a 21-year-old American student shot his father, who was prostrate from generalized cancer.” In the face of this and other similar cases, there was indulgence on the part of the judicial powers.

The Law on Euthanasia

In traditional doctrine, the express admission of the impunity of euthanasia homicide is decidedly in the minority. Most of the current penal codes adopt an intermediate position on this issue, with specific attenuation in cases of merciful death, but without reaching legalization or justification.

I don’t know if it is a fear of the unknown or a fear of revolutionizing what is already established and regulated. The truth is that all this indecision causes millions of human beings to suffer — who sooner or later will die — anchored to terminal illnesses.

Perhaps we do agree on one thing, and that is that the advances of science have led man abruptly and unexpectedly to recognize that the central problem of modern medicine is of a moral order.

What irony! We are victims of that monster called progress!