Sir, - A few comments with reference to your articles on euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (July 3rd). People have a right to expect to die, but do not have the right to decide and determine the method and moment of their death. That power belongs to God.
It has always struck me as curious how we doctors, often decried by the public as being self proclaimed gods regarding decisions on life and death, are frequently given by the same society the power of death before birth (abortion) and now in Oregon, Holland and Darwin, the power of termination before death (euthanasia). These interventions are not part of the Hippocratic medical tradition. The problems disposed of by abortion are in the main societal, and not medical.
The desire for euthanasia is not new, and one can sympathise with people who want an end to a miserable life; but, in the case of cancer, palliative medicine, holistic hospice care and modern analgesia can greatly ease the pain of dying. Doctors, in my opinion, ought not to be delivering death to unwanted or malformed babies, to sick people who want out of this life, or to condemned criminals. The medical role has always been to keep alive and, where appropriate, to allow people to die with as much dignity, with as much pain relief and with as much empathy as possible.
I would further suggest that if society wishes to have legalised abortion and legalised euthanasia, that society could well give thought to training its own terminators of life before birth and life before death. This would not require a long medical training of anything from seven to 15 years.
Could I provocatively propose that in the case of abortion, the major reason for involving nurses and doctors is to make the procedure 100 per cent safe for the mother and loo per cent lethal for the foetus! The involvement of nurses and doctors in euthanasia is on the assumption that they, have the knowledge and expertise to terminate life efficiently, as so requested.
This is an inherently destructive and dangerous expertise which is intrinsically opposed to most medical interventions, however well intentioned it may be. Allowing to die, and aiding the process of death are acceptable medical practices. Directly causing to die is not. - Yours, etc.,
Department of Paediatrics,
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,
123 St Stephen's Green,
Dublin 2.