Washington State: Vote Against Initiative 1000
This is a statement written by Arthur Coday, Jr., M.D. You need to read this before voting on I-1000. Here is an excerpt:
A look at recent American history shows progression in the killing of innocent human life. It started with the legalization of abortion on demand in 1973 and progressed to the legalization of physician assisted suicide in Oregon in 1998. If legalized generally in America, the proponents of death will call for euthanasia of increasingly broader groups of people, starting with the most vulnerable. This would potentially include the permanently disabled and the mentally incompetent. The proponents of death will deny that killing these people is euthanasia. Instead, they will say it is assisted suicide, because these vulnerable persons would have wanted to die if they were rational, as their lives were not worth living. Killing them would be nothing more than acting on their behalf. And so the wave of death will continue to spread out concentrically across society until the latter collapses.
1. It is wrong to kill. This includes homicide and suicide.
A. Religion. Virtually all religions teach that it is wrong to kill the innocent.
B. Law. Virtually all legal traditions prohibit the killing of the innocent.
C. Culture. Virtually all cultures consider killing of innocent to be wrong.
D. Medicine. The Western tradition of medicine says that doctors should not kill patients. This includes a prohibition on abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.
2. The essential role of the physician is that of healer, not killer.
A. Curing. Healing means curing whenever possible. Curing encompasses removal of physical problems and restoration of normal function. It results in symptomatic relief, increased function and increased longevity. It is restoration to a state of wholeness.
B. Palliation. Palliation could be thought of as a partial cure or at the very least the relief of symptoms. Whenever curing is not possible, palliation is the goal.
C. Hope. In every situation physicians can always bring hope to a patient.
3. Physician-assisted suicide is a threat to the vulnerable in society.
A. Terminally ill patients might feel an obligation to commit suicide in order to prevent themselves from becoming a burden to their family and to society.
B. Families might pressure terminally ill patients to commit suicide in order to relieve the burden of caring for the ill family member. Families might also encourage an ill family member to do this for financial reasons.
C. Third-party payers of health care might encourage physician-assisted suicide in order to reduce cost. This has actually happened in at least one case in Oregon, the only state in America where physician-assisted suicide is legal.
D. Suicidal people who are not terminally ill might be more likely to commit suicide in a society where physician-assisted suicide is legal because the stigma of suicide is less.
4. Legalization of physician-assisted suicide would represent a step toward social degradation and a move toward the self-destruction of society.
A. The natural progression is abortion, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, genocide, and finally complete social collapse. Societies that sanction the killing of innocent human life will not survive.
B. Particular note should be made of the practices and philosophies of Nazi Germany. Indeed, the Nazis strategically used physicians to validate their killing. By “medicalizing” killing, the good reputation and the trust people have for physicians can be used to convince the public that killing is somehow humane, compassionate, or best for society. In the case of Nazi Germany, the Third Reich collapsed and Germany itself was nearly destroyed by the Nazi philosophy of killing innocent human life for social purposes, and the chief architect of the Nazi movement, Adolf Hitler, committed suicide.
C. Once society sanctions the killing of innocents, no person is truly safe. Any individual, movement, or organization can take power and effectively kill the opposition. History is replete with examples of this; Nazi Germany is only one example. Although the contemporary proponents of physician assisted suicide would assiduously deny any possibility that legalization of physician assisted suicide would ever lead to the killing of innocents, I certainly must disagree. The historical record showing mankind’s prodigious ability to kill innocents is overwhelming. It appears that mankind needs as much restraint as possible to prevent the killing of innocent people.
A look at recent American history shows progression in the killing of innocent human life. It started with the legalization of abortion on demand in 1973 and progressed to the legalization of physician assisted suicide in Oregon in 1998. If legalized generally in America, the proponents of death will call for euthanasia of increasingly broader groups of people, starting with the most vulnerable. This would potentially include the permanently disabled and the mentally incompetent. The proponents of death will deny that killing these people is euthanasia. Instead, they will say it is assisted suicide, because these vulnerable persons would have wanted to die if they were rational, as their lives were not worth living. Killing them would be nothing more than acting on their behalf. And so the wave of death will continue to spread out concentrically across society until the latter collapses.
Even today, there is reason to think society is already beginning to falter under the weight of killing the innocent. Specifically, since 1973 tens of millions of unborn people have been killed before birth. It should be obvious that this has had a detrimental effect on society. Our population demographic has gradually shifted to an “inverted” pyramid with too few young, working people to support the growing number of older, retired people. We see the strain with regard to health care (Medicare) and retirement (Social Security); the Medicare and Social Security programs are literally about to fail due to the population pyramid inversion. There is no solution to this other than to quit killing the unborn. Unfortunately, the proponents of death will simply use the situation to argue more forcefully for expansion of the killing of innocents. For them, the solution is easy; simply kill more of the elderly. The rational will be deceptively wrapped in words like “compassion” and “choices.” Though they would never admit to this, their position on killing provides structural support to the concepts I have herein outlined.
It is no wonder that the wisdom of the ages is “You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)” Unfortunately, those who would disregard this commandment simply tell themselves and others that killing innocent human life is not necessarily murder, but in the right situation is in fact good.
“…We do not subscribe to the view that one should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, or clothe the naked…our objectives are different: We must have a healthy people in order to prevail in the world.”
-Paul Joseph Goebbels, Ph.D., 1938. Holocaust Remembrance Network as published in Wickipedia under “Holocaust.” Dr. Goebbels was Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933-1945. Dr. Goebbels and his wife committed suicide, and it is speculated that his wife first killed their six young children. (Wickipedia, under “Goebbels, Paul Joseph.”)
“Overall it has been estimated that over 200,000 individuals with mental disorders of all kinds were put to death, although their mass murder has received relatively little historic attention. Despite not being formally ordered to take part, psychiatrists and psychiatric institutions were at the center of justifying, planning and carrying out the atrocities at every stage and “constituted the connection” to the latter annihilation of Jews and other “undesirables” in the Holocaust.” (Rael D. Strous (2007). Psychiatry during the Nazi era: ethical lessons for the modern professional. Annals of General Psychiatry. 2007, 6:8 doi:10. 1186/1744-859X-6-8. In Wickipedia, under “Holocaust.”)
I suggest that we “must never again” allow the killing of innocent human life for any reason. Physicians must never allow their good standing with the public to be hijacked by the agents of death in order to make the killing of innocent human life publicly acceptable. Of course this necessarily means that physicians should not have any role in assisting their patients to commit suicide. Instead, doctors should show true compassion (compassion means “to suffer with”) toward their patients and in contrast to the teachings of Goebbels we should endeavor to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and clothe the naked.
