Religious divisions have also surfaced, with many Roman Catholics and evangelicals siding with the state ”” arguing that the homicide statutes could be weakened if a right to assisted death is affirmed by the court ”” while some liberal church leaders speak out on behalf of what they say are matters of choice.
“I don’t think God created us to be string puppets,” said John C. Board, an Episcopal deacon at a church in Helena who supports the Baxter claim. “If we say that God has given everyone free will, that means God has given you the opportunity to do things right and do things wrong.”
Kathryn L. Tucker, co-counsel for Mr. Baxter’s estate and the other plaintiffs, says this case is also about boundaries.
At a time when the limits, if not failings, of medicine are part of the national debate about health care reform, Ms. Tucker said, what is the power of the individual to set his or her own course?
“This case is part of a journey,” said Ms. Tucker, who is director of legal affairs for Compassion and Choices, a national group that advocates to protect and expand the rights of the terminally ill and is also one of the plaintiffs. “It’s about empowering patients and giving them the right to decide when they have suffered enough.”
[blockquote]“I don’t think God created us to be string puppets,†said John C. Board, an Episcopal deacon at a church in Helena who supports the Baxter claim. “If we say that God has given everyone free will, that means God has given you the opportunity to do things right and do things wrong.â€[/blockquote]Assisted suicide, though, means another human, a medical doctor, is going to participate in the act. This deacon appears to have no opinion on whether doing that is morally acceptable, or possibly he thinks that since the patient wants to die, helping him along to death is morally neutral.
I am very afraid of the “right to die” or “dr. assisted suicide” movements. It seems to me just another way to de-personalize based on how much function you give to society. It leads to to stop seeing people as persons of great worth regardless of whether the do anything for society or not. First there was abortion where the unborn are not persons. Today we react with anger at a woman who kills her young children – particularly infants, but we don’t generally charger her with murder or manslaughter. We are hearing the rumblings that it ought to be OK to get rid of children who are excessive burdens on society (Peter Singer). We are hearing that it should be OK for doctors to kill patients if they want to die.
I am afraid that the “right to die” will soon become the “duty to die.” The syringe will become western civilization’s (sic) answer to the Inuit’s ice floes where they put their elderly on an ice floe to die.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder