OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Another resource hogging flash applet thingie...click the gray background to begin loading,

photo

then navigate with arrow keys. You'll need something other than Internet Explorer.

Friday, February 5, 2010

10 Things to Think About Before Pulling the Plug


The view from the from the 4th floor, originally uploaded by use2blost.

According to the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics, the precise definition of euthanasia is "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering".*
     Well.
     This has become more than  intellectual. The DNR protocols here at the Houston County Medical Center have three levels of `Letting Someone Die"  The questions I am asking are:
  1. Is letting someone die all that different from euthanasia?
  2. Are one or both of these Okay?  
  3. Is this analogous to other moral issues? (for instance, murder is bad, letting a murder occur when you have the power to prevent it is bad as well...They are on the same side of the Good /Evil line. Is euthanasia/DNR like that...both on one side of the morality coin, U.S. law nonwithstanding?)
  4. Where are you with all of this Christopher? Whats your opinion, and why?
  5. Does scripture speak to this?...More importantly, does God speak to this? (remember...God and scripture are not synonymous. Can you say idolatry?)
  6. Is there a  protestant interpretation?
  7. Does it differ from the Catholic?
  8. Do you give a shit about 6 and 7?
  9. What does it mean that you are to determine these things for a retarded person? What defines your responsibility in this situation?  
  10. Is this a good reason to have a cigarette ?
     
*wikipedia

3 comments:

  1. LMAO at #s 8 & 10.

    pondering the others...as you often make me do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know this is a hard thing. You have a main issue. "Thou shalt not kill"
    But then you have... other issues.

    Scenerio one in my head:
    You have a person who has a terminal painful condition. They are suffering. There will be no end to the suffering except death.

    There is a side of me that says let me help them out of their misery. That believes it is cruel to let them suffer in agony for days/weeks when I could fix it. But there is that pesky rule. Thou shalt not kill. But they are suffering and I can help them.

    second scenerio in my head:
    Person was in some kind of accident and is labeled brain dead. Family is told they will never function again.

    I don't know about pulling the plug. I just don't think it is right. Who are the doctors to say what god has in store for this person.
    See how I waver from the other opinion.

    Third thing that just flat out bothers me and happened with my uncle who just died of cancer..
    He had a DNR. Do not resuscitate. These scare me to death. What if you fall down and bump your head and all it would take is a quick jolt. They won't do it because you have a dnr. I think they should not be around.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah. I don't like the head bump scenario, either...maybe DNR's should have a standard waiting period, and not become binding for a predetermined amount of days.

    ReplyDelete

Oh Yeah! Comments make my DAY!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

The occasional visitor from REALLY far away is surprisingly satisfying.