Euthanasia, The Death Penalty and......

Euthanasia: Euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit.

There are still many debates about euthanasia.  Should it be legal?  Allowed in certain circumstances? What if it were you or your loved one that was suffering, in pain and it was determined there was no cure for the illness?  Terminally ill? 

I try to be open-minded about a lot of things because many times my motto is unless I've gone through something or experienced something I can't definitively say yes, no, never, no way to certain political or ethical issues. 

This week some good friends of ours (I referred to them in my previous post) decided to euthanize their dog due to his diagnosis of advanced cancer.  He was given a few months to live at first, but then the doctors realized it was much more advanced than they first thought and gave him a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately he continued to have seizures several times a day, vomited several times a day and would have many accidents as well.  Even though they were giving him pain medication he was miserable.  My friends hated seeing him suffer.  They did not want to see their loved one in pain. 

Euthanizing a pet is legal.  It is seen as an act of love for the pet who doesn't have a voice of their own. Jack couldn't tell my friends how he felt or whether he wanted to stay around a little while longer.  They went on the information that the doctors gave them as well as what they were witnessing first hand ....that he was miserable and in a lot of pain.  So as some people might call euthanasia....it was a "mercy killing". 

Why do we have different laws with humans?  And you don't have to reply.....it was really a rhetorical question that I already know the answers to :-)

However, it has been on my mind more and more lately.  What if I were given a diagnosis that I was going to die in 2 months?  My initial reaction is that I would want to spend every waking last minute of my life spending time with my family and friends.  But what if those two months were spent with me vomiting, having seizures, not being able to eat, walk, talk or play with my kids?  What if I could spare them seeing their mother deterioriate right before their eyes and have them remember me healthy and full of life?  Suicide? Mercy killing? Assisted suicide? Euthanasia. 

Why a different set of rules for humans?  It's what we do for our pets.   Pondering.....

Is it because we don't think that we should play God?  Is it that we don't think a human should ever legally be able to kill another human? Or is it the difficulty of then determining what is euthanasia versus murder? Or all of those?

What about the death penalty? Someone is "playing God" there, aren't they?  Determining that someone's life is worth less than the victim or victims?  And what if there is an innocent person put to death?  And don't get me wrong....remember my motto...unless I've gone through it or been a part of it, I don't know how I would feel. 

My problem with the death penalty is: What does it solve?  Does it right the wrong that was incurred? Does it make the victim or victim's families feel better?  Does it make their pain less?  Do they not still suffer their loss? 

And yes I have tried to imagine what I would feel or how I would react if someone killed one of my children.  Would I not want that person to be punished for their crime?  Absolutely.  But I don't know that I would "feel better" knowing that they too lost their life.  I think I would feel better knowing that they were going to sit in a prison for the rest of their life.  To me, that's punishment. 

But I know that's just my view and just my opinion.  But it brings me back to euthanasia and the death penalty and how sometimes I just don't get where we derive our laws from.  It's ok to lay down our pets but we can't lay down a person.  It's ok to kill someone who has committed a horrendous crime (and hope that they are actually guilty) but we can't ask someone to take a life that is suffering from horrendous pain.  We allow someone to kill their developing baby in the womb as a form of birth control but we think it's an unthinkable crime if a pregnant woman is killed and the murderer is charged with a double murder. 

Inconsistent.  Sometimes backward thinking.  Just some thoughts to ponder.  You know, the light sort of stuff like death, dying and mercy killing. 

Happy Friday! :-)  Hopefully my next post will be more uplifting!