ON THE RIGHT TO SUICIDE BY THE DYING
Beckwith, Burnham P.
Death is not a pleasant subject to talk or write about. For those who are healthy and busy, the mere thought of death is depressing. But all of us must die sometime, and if we wish to die well,...
...IT MAY BE objected that some dying persons are physically incapable of committing suicide, and that therefore active euthanasia is needed to supplement the legalization of suicide by the dying...
...Few persons know how to obtain and use the drugs most suitable for painless and dignified suicide...
...Only those doctors and nurses who have strong moral objections to aiding suicide should be exempted, and all patients should be warned of such exemptions and allowed to have nonexempt doctors and nurses care for them...
...Their purchase requires a prescription, and doctors try to prevent their purchase and use by would-be suicides...
...It will not be enough merely to legalize suicide by the dying...
...And dying, bedridden patients have little energy and initiative left...
...Third, timely suicide will usually save family and close friends the very unpleasant and depressing experience of watching the slow, painful, and degrading death of someone they care for...
...Thus, by legalizing timely suicide by the dying, we would not only greatly benefit those otherwise fated to die slowly and painfully but would also benefit many other persons by reducing their fear of a painful death...
...Some religious conservatives argue that human life is sacred or divinely ordained, and that therefore all taking of life, even suicide by the dying, is morally wrong...
...As long as the helpless, bedridden dying are denied the right and opportunity to end their pain and expense, many aged persons will feel compelled to commit suicide before they become helpless and bedridden, even while life is still pleasant, in order to avoid the risk of a slow, painful, degrading, and costly death...
...If these funds were spent on better health care for pregnant women and for children, they would yield far greater and more lasting benefits...
...But they are arrogant and cruel when they use the law to compel other men to die a painful death against their will...
...First and foremost, by timely suicide those dying painfully can end their own suffering immediately...
...Fifth, dying persons who commit suicide for the above reasons demonstrate the kind of self-control, logical thinking, and consideration for others that most intelligent people respect and admire...
...If dying patients are to make a wise and timely choice, they must be told that they are dying as soon as this is known...
...We can prove that suicide is sometimes harmful and sometimes beneficial, but not that it is moral or immoral...
...Few of the aged want to end their life while it is still useful and/ or pleasant...
...Moreover, the act of suicide involves less participation and fewer feelings of doubt or guilt by other persons...
...Some will jump off tall buildings or bridges, shoot themselves, walk in front of trucks or trains, and use other methods of suicide that shock or endanger other people and leave bloody, mashed, and/or mutilated corpses...
...And they surely violate Christian doctrines concerning the virtues of charity and mercy...
...Few deaths after such legal drug use can be dignified...
...This rule applies especially to the treatment of aged patients, for a mistaken prediction of death does little harm, and perhaps much good, to them...
...THERE ARE Six major reasons why dying persons should be permitted to shorten their painful lives by suicide and why such suicide is beneficial and praiseworthy...
...A few will be revived, healed, and forced to try suicide again in order to avoid a painful, lingering death...
...And most persons will soon learn to appreciate and honor those who have benefited their family and nation by rational, timely suicide...
...Most are demeaning, or even disgusting...
...Hence, it should be easier to persuade voters to legalize such suicide than to persuade them to legalize active euthanasia for the dying...
...But it is precisely in such personal matters that free choice is most desired and most beneficial...
...It may not even end all pain, and it does not stop the steady physical deterioration and degradation of the body caused by emaciation, swelling, and/or putrefaction, or the mental deterioration induced by continuing brain or nerve damage...
...Since opinions as to what is sacred are so changeable, they cannot be treated as sound arguments against suicide by the dying...
...Many people who die suddenly and almost painlessly have long lived in fear of a painful death...
...But few dying persons are likely to have such doctors...
...It reduces their responsibility, and therefore their self-questioning...
...Public restriction of personal freedom is justified only in the case of acts that are clearly harmful to the public...
...And, if such a death comes after a man has raised his family and completed his life's work, it is indeed an ideal death...
...No doctor should encourage a patient to bear intense pain or great expense in the vain or faint hope that recovery is possible...
...Such suffering is often intense, unceasing, and prolonged...
...I do not mean to imply that any aged person who still enjoys life, or prefers a painful slow death to a quick painless one, should be compelled or induced to commit suicide...
...Neither group or their supporters should be able to dictate the behavior of those who disagree with them on suicide by the dying...
...Those dying in hospitals or nursing homes should always be free to take a drug that will end their life immediately...
...But such drugs are not freely available to dying persons...
...Parents who spend a lifetime saving to create an estate for their children often dissipate most or all of it by dying slowly and painfully...
...The ideal death is unexpected, quick, and dignified...
...are caused by cancer, an especially painful disease...
...but many other terminal illnesses also cause great personal suffering and economic cost...
...Hence, nearly all doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes should be required to provide expert information and the best drugs for suicide to all dying patients who need and desire such help...
...Nearly all deaths are painful, but the amount of pain can be greatly reduced by appropriate personal planning and social reform...
...Even those who believe in suicide as a means of avoiding the pain and cost of a slow death tend naturally to postpone suicide until they are bedridden, usually in a hospital, where moralistic and/or law-abiding doctors and nurses take pains to make suicide very difficult if not impossible...
...But these same persons approve of killing in war or in the execution of criminals...
...The man who suffers a heart attack at home with his family and dies immediately is fortunate...
...Indeed, one cannot even have them in one's possession in a hospital...
...They can avoid most of the useless physical pain and mental strain of a slow death...
...I merely claim that both the dying who prefer a painless, dignified death by suicide and those who do not should be free to do as they please...
...Moreover, few of the aged wish to commit suicide while they are still on their feet...
...It does not reduce or end the high daily cost of dying...
...Dying patients find it most difficult to obtain and use such drugs just when they are most likely to realize that suicide would greatly benefit them and their families...
...It may be replied that there are drugs that end pain without ending life...
...They resemble the considerate doctors who once performed safe but illegal abortions on desperate unmarried girls...
...Moral claims are prejudices that can't be proven or disproven...
...A slow death has forced millions of families into bankruptcy and/or poverty...
...Therefore, we must change criminal laws and hospital rules to allow the dying to end their suffering and expense easily and quickly whenever they please...
...Legalizing suicide by the dying would not have this undesirable effect...
...Timely suicide is the most honorable end to the life of anyone not fortunate to die suddenly and unexpectedly...
...It enables the individual himself to end his own suffering when, and only when, he chooses to do so...
...Fourth, timely suicide by the dying will drastically reduce the often very high cost of dying slowly...
...Since the peaceful suicide of a dying person does not harm society, society has no reason to restrict such freedom to commit suicide...
...Such a death is often more painful for a mate or other relative than for the dying person...
...And the mere freedom to commit suicide helps him to bear any pain because he knows that he can end it whenever he pleases...
...A painful death is far more to be feared than a painless one...
...I strongly believe that dying persons should be allowed to end their lives quickly and painlessly whenever they please, and that we should facilitate and applaud such conduct...
...Second, suicide may prevent a degrading or even disgusting death...
...There are, of course, some sensitive and kindhearted doctors who will risk indictment and civil suit to help a patient dying in agony to end such a life by suicide...
...Legalizing and facilitating suicide by the aged would increase the freedom of every individual...
...It may also be replied that sleeping pills and other drugs whose use can assure a quick peaceful death are already available to would-be suicides, and that therefore no change in our laws or medical customs is needed...
...He misses the fearful expectation of certain, fast-approaching death, as well as the pain of a fatal illness...
...And a very few centuries ago most Christians approved the public execution by burning of witches and heretics...
...And those who do are usually reluctant to ask a doctor to risk career and freedom for their sake...
...Finally, if we legalize and facilitate timely and painless suicide by the dying, we will not only enable them to gain the benefits described above, but will also enable all people to look forward to death with less fear...
...Legalizing active euthanasia will cause some persons to fear that they will be put to sleep prematurely or against their wishes...
...And the mere natural course of a fatal disease may turn a dying person into a pitifully emaciated or swollen body, or even into one that is putrid and nauseating...
...Americans now spend over $20 billion a year on health care for the dying...
...Pain and suffering often result in irrational and / or perverse behavior of which dying persons would be very ashamed if they were their normal selves...
...Finally, it may be objected that suicide is always immoral...
...In most cases, only timely suicide or euthanasia can assure a death that is painless and dignified, not profane or obscene...
...No doctor or nurse should ever be allowed to deny the privilege of a painless death to any dying person...
...And no doctor or nurse should be subject to indictment or civil suit for making such drugs readily available to the dying...
...Let me emphasize that I am only demanding free choice for the dying...
...232 Euthanasia may be desirable for a few persons who suddenly and unexpectedly become completely paralyzed or irrational while dying, but suicide is always preferable when it is possible...
...Unfortunately, the dying have often been denied some or all use of such drugs on the ground that they are habit-forming, and adequate use of such drugs merely reduces or prevents pain...
...If we are considerate of their welfare, we will try to save them this unnecessary trauma...
...But only a very small minority of men and women now living will experience such an ideal death...
...The great majority will die slowly, consciously, painfully, and expensively, causing much trouble and cost to their families and/ or to society...
...Religious persons who believe that all suicide is sinful should be free to die a painful death...
...Six months in a hospital now cost $20,000 to $100,000...
...We would eliminate most of the reason for fear of death, and free millions of men and women from all fear of a natural death...
...And those who die at 231 public expense waste billions of dollars of public funds badly needed for more productive uses...
...The desire to end one's suffering and one's life usually becomes strong only after one has become bedridden, and by then one cannot purchase such drugs personally...
...Many will lie in bed for months or years, comatose, paralyzed, and/or in pain...
...It is paradoxical but true that those conservatives who claim to support freedom of choice most vigorously are those who are most likely to deny freedom of choice on the most vital personal problems of conduct such as the question of suicide by the dying...
...Suicide is a voluntary act...
...About one-third of all deaths in the U.S...
...But all of us must die sometime, and if we wish to die well, we ought to think about death and plan for it long before we must face it...
Vol. 26 • April 1979 • No. 2
