Euthanasia, When is it Right?
Recently a French woman was denied euthanasia. Chantal Sebiré suffered from a rare incurable tumor that left her disfigured, blind, and in agony. She was denied euthanasia because it didn’t “fall” into the requirements to receive the treatment. She argued she didn’t want to endure further pain, but wasn’t treated despite her efforts. Though I didn’t see or meet Chantal, I feel her pain. Why did she have to endure the pain that could have been prevented? Euthanasia should be permitted through certain circumstances.
Those who are against euthanasia would argue “What kind of people are we if we kill those who are weak and frail”? Euthanasia doesn’t have to be used if there is a way to turn things around. Euthanasia has to be used as a last resort. Any person who has owned a dog that is old, frail, and in pain knows that we don’t want this animal to suffer anymore pain. We then euthanize this creature to save it from all its pain it will endure. If one can’t get a proper euthanasia to end their life, they will die in pain, or possibly by suicide.
Chantel Sebiré overdosed on barbiturates and was pronounced dead March 19, 2008. Her reason was simple, She couldn’t endure the pain anymore and ended her life by her own hand.
Euthanasia has a stigma attached to it. It becomes an endless war of debate when different opinions collide. However, We can’t think of ourselves all the time. We are not enduring this endless pain that denied euthanasia patients have. They have to put up with their diseases by themselves because no one else is there to help them. They find their resolve somewhere in the timeline of their life. Most people have a story ending that goes “We grow old and die”. To Chantel Sebiré, hers was “To die young and in pain”. We shouldn’t be fighting pain alone, we should fight pain together.Ricardo D.�
