Details

Created on Monday, 31 March 2014 11:05

We do have euthanasia in this country. We have it all over the country. It's called morphine. Under hospice care, they administer fatal doses of morphine to patients who are terminal and in pain. It doesn't kill them immediately, but it quickens their death for sure. And I am not complaining that they do it. I am complaining about how they do it. I think they should do it openly and honestly and bring death on faster.

I had a beloved cousin who died recently. He was my age, and he had cancer. We were very close growing up, and he was more like a brother to me than a cousin. He was put on hospice, and he received very good care overall. But, I feel that he was allowed to hover in a state near death for too long. They were giving him morphine and other drugs for pain, but it is my earnest belief that they should have given him more. They should have ended it for him decisively. He knew he was dying. He was completely accepting of it. He wanted it to be over sooner rather than later, and he expressed that wish. He had taken care of everything that needed taking care of. And it had reached the point where his existence had to be nightmarish for him- where he was trapped inside this dying body.

You see, my cousin was strong by nature. He had been an athlete his whole life. So, his heart was strong. That's why it was taking him so long to die. And that's why I think they should have helped him to die faster.

There are rumors that Jackie Kennedy Onassis died through decisive euthanasia, where she was given a fatal cocktail of drugs which killed her in one night. I think that others who are in that situation should be given the same option. I think it's the humane thing to do. I don't think people should be forced to endure the final stages of decrepitude that often accompany dying, that is, if they don't want to.

We often take charge of the process of birth. I have a new grandson- Bryce London Cinque- who was born on February 25 of this year, and the date of his birth was decided in advance by the obstretician. He was born by Cesarean section. There were medical reasons why this was deemed prudent, and everything went fine. But, if we can oversee the process of birthing to that extent, why not the process of dying?

No one should be left to suffer pain at the end of their life, but likewise, they shouldn't be forced to suffer the protracted and  nightmarish decay that often accompanies dying either- if it is their will to end it sooner. I think that, with the help of their doctors, they should be allowed to take control of the whole dying process and to do it on their own terms. Nature can be cruel, but we should always be compassionate. I hope I receive that much compassion when it's my time to die.

So, I think the resistance to frank euthanasia is unwarranted, and I sincerely hope that societal mores about it change and soon.