Discussion 3 to Reflections on Ethics 38
Making the decision
by JT
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Anthony, I respect your opinion that:
I personally would have not made this decision.
I hope you are never in the position that you have to make such a decision for a loved one, or that a loved one has to make a decision for you. But, as you seem to indicate that life must be maintained "at any cost," I hope you have the financial resources to do so.
In the real world, decisions like this are made every day, and it is standard medical procedure to faciltiate the death of someone in a persistant vegetative state, usually by removing the feeding tube. Cost is a factor. but so is the impossibility of recovery. The only problem in the Schiavo case was that the family could not agree which is what lead to the protracted legal wrangling.
Do not blame "modernists." This is nothing to do with a "new streamlined easy world." The practice of allowing the terminally ill to die has been a practice from earliest tribal times. It has long been seen as the most compassionate process for both the patient and the survivors. But regardless of whether the practice is ancient or brand new - the age of the practice says nothing about the morality of it.
And as to forcing "this type of decision on people by the use of law," it would seem that you are quite prepared to force the opposite decision on people by force of law. You have made your own decision for yourself. Let others make their own decisions.