Letter: Euthanasia | The Daily Courier | Prescott, AZ – The Daily Courier

Editor:

The Courier ended a recent anonymous editorial on euthanasia with: No one else should tell us what is right on this issue. Its strictly a family matter. Though the editorial noted several times that this is a difficult and complex issue, its conclusion was simply wrong.

Instead, it is strictly an individual matter, with necessary governmental oversight for the limited purpose of ensuring faithful adherence to the individuals wishes. Anything else leaves the potential for terrible outcomes. Two immediately come to mind.

Maintaining a person through a long period prior to death can be expensive, arguably a poor use of limited resources. What if the family or the healthcare facility (or God forbid, the government!) decides that spending that money just isnt right and come to the decision - on behalf of that vulnerable individual, of course - that the end should come now. Anyone who thinks that a familys thinking would never be swayed by the prospect of their inheritance money being wasted on end of life care - or that the individual would not be moved by family pressure - is being naive.

Setting aside the need for safeguards against a family pressing for a decision on end-of-life that may not be what the individual wants, what is a doctor to do when faced with a variety of input from the family? If the individual is beyond clearly communicating his wishes, the doctor might be faced with input from son number one who says Slip Ol Dad the juice, and son number two who believes that Dad would not want that. Picking one over the other is not a moral or legal burden to put on the doctor.

Yes, the topic is hard, but saying that it is strictly a family matter only leaves the door open for unending problems. The law needs to provide protection for the elderly/terminally ill/disabled so that the individuals wishes are followed, whether the family agrees with it or not.

Mary Frederickson

Prescott

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Letter: Euthanasia | The Daily Courier | Prescott, AZ - The Daily Courier