Edge of life issues: Euthanasia

Unfortunately due to my work, commitments and unfortunately again some laziness my reading time is very limited. For a believer this is a shame as the building up of character and steadfastedness surely comes from being grounded in truth.

I did however read from cover to cover Dr John R Ling's 'The Edge of Life' published by Day One, ISBN 1903087 30-9. I highly recommend this book as it covers all relevant issues including abortion, eugenics, infanticide, euthanasia and suicide. He draws his points together cohesively with his founding principles and argumants always based on biblical truths. This book is an absolute must for every believer as momentum for new laws endorsing the gross act of murdering those who have no voice otherwise known as euthanasia is gathering pace. What more can our society do to bring about the fulfillment of acts of evil prophesied for the last days than to further the cruel hand of man who believes that there is no God therefore no sanctity of life and therefore those who pose an imposition on the human race should be dispensed of. I mean, why should young career minded people be burdened witht the care of their parents because due to a lack of funding more and more nursing homes are closing? Isn't this a huge imposition on their lives from those who have nothing left in life to live for and just suck the economy dry? Why should women who, oooops had unprotected sex, have to live with the consequences of their sin and raise a child when they can easy as you like have it in vitro burned alive or sucked from their womb with no further reprocussions. Oh, apart from the fact that their conscience will bite them. Isn't it their right to decide? These were lives with no value anyway. Forget the 5th and 6th commandments, who believes in God anyway?

This kind of disgusting reasoning is common place in our society although many would not verbalise such thoughts. The problem is that a wholesale sweeping of biblical values under the carpet leaves room for those who hold these views to pass judgement on vulnerable people's right to live and their perceived quality of life. Also the misplaced audacity which allows one human to say that it is in the best interests of another human to die because they think so.

Dr Ling sheds light on the mindset behind such thinking and the many guises it takes. He also looks at the shift in the medical profession and changes made to the hypocratic oath. Don't think that if you take your aged mother into hospital that the doctors will cause her no harm.
Nowadays the simple act of withholding food and fluids is deemed the withdrawing of treatment when in fact it is the withdrawing of life sustaining essentials not medical intervention. As Dr Ling says the outcome of those who food and water is with held from is 'Entirely predictable'. To with hold the basics of life is to condemn to death. We in the bible are commanded to feed our enemy if he hungers and give him water to drink if he thirsts, Romans12;20. How much more should we feed those who are our not our enemies, those who are family, friends, associates. well I guess with no sanctity of life understood then people will not stand for these. Then how much more we should.

I my line if work I have been party to DNR or do not rescusitate orders. These are legal documents which are taken seriously and never signed unless medical and nursing and often family and patient are in agreement. To make things clear these documents allow the patient to die if their heart stops. In hospital a crash call has to be put out unless these forms are signed.
The rationale for these forms are that trying to re start the heart will be unsucessful or that the quality of life will be poor. This raises the issue of who judges the quality of life but in all the decisions I have witnessed the patient in question has been end stage cancer where life expectancy is days and to rescusitate would be cruel and an example of unwarrented intervention. This does however leave an opening for those who wants to abuse the system to do so.

What Dr Ling argues and argues well is that the true meaning of euthanasia 'to die well' should be fulfilled in the provision of palliative care. Palliative care is fantastic when it works well. Dying patients are continually assessed and given 24/7 help with pain, nausea and restlessness. It allows people to die when they are called by God and when they do it is natural, pain free and without the interfering hand of man. Palliative care helps people die well. Not early, at the beck of someone else, illegally or unrequested. There are PC teams at every NHS trust who work in hospital and in the community to meet patient's needs.

This should be the driving force behind new laws, that more funding should be given to establish palliative care so that the evil force that is those promoting euthanasia would not be able to argue that people have long slow painful deaths. They may forever argue that humans have the right to decide to die as the mother has the right to kill her baby. This will never go away until the Lord comes again in righteous judgment to remove all sin from this fallen world. May it be that we look forward to this blessed day but until that time fight for those who have no voice, fight to win sinners for the Lord and fight against the enemy within. Amen

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