Undermining Hospice
Euthanasia is antithetical to the philosophy of hospice care, which honors the intrinsic equal dignity of all people and promises to care for people to the end of their natural lives. One method by which this philosophy is carried out is suicide prevention. If a hospice patient becomes suicidal, the threat to life is treated just as seriously as suicide threats from people who are not dying.
But assisted suicide philosophy is contrary, claiming that killing oneself for purposes of alleviating suffering is the "ultimate civil right," creating a dichotomy that is sometimes framed as "hemlock versus hospice." This story from New Zealand about a proposal to create euthanasia "havens" is an example of the philosophical conflict. Note that the euthanasia advocate frames mercy killing as an alternative to hospice. At least that is honest: Hospice and euthanasia are mutually exclusive concepts.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 12:22 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Wesley,
I agree with your argument, but would like to know if you think that other euthanasia advocates are trying to take over hospice and palliative care.
An article in Pathways 2 Health (Winter 2007) describes how a woman with pulmonary fibrosis had 'drugs administered to enable her to sleep'. Then her oxygen mask was removed and she died in two hours. The oxygen was construed to be life support and the medication to be palliative. Please comment. Thank you, Fr. Juan R. Velez, MD.
Hi, Fr. and thanks for writing. I think the jury is out. I have heard stories like that, and I also still hear good hospice stories. I remain a supporter of hospice but am wary that some of the "wrong" people are getting into it. I think people need to be vigilent and ask ahead of time what the hospice's philosophy is about such matters.
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