Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

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WHAT IS EUTHANASIA?

Translated from its Greek origins, the word "euthanasia" means "good death".  This meaning of the word should be completely rejected when realizing what is being done.  In common use, "euthanasia" means an act causing death for a variety of reasons which are opposed to the norms of morality. Other terms closely related to euthanasia include: mercy killing, assisted suicide, and abortion.

Euthanasia may be voluntary, involuntary, or compulsory.  If voluntarily done by oneself, it is a form of suicide (the act of intentional self-destruction).  If administered by another in an involuntary or compulsory way, it is a form of murder.  If administered by another with the victim's consent or cooperation, it is both suicide and murder.

Those who are terminally ill and who are physically suffering have been regarded as better off dead, and this view has led to killing them as a supposed act of mercy.  With modern forms of pain management, this picture has been radically changed in recent years.  Now however, the desire to kill has been expanding to target other types of less than ideal lives - those who are severely handicapped, who have encountered mental problems, who have been born with a severe deformity, who are regarded as worthless, etc.  Euthanasia clearly has the capability to "morph" as the circumstances of our society change.

Active euthanasia is merely a longer term for euthanasia as defined above - the moral equivalent of suicide or murder.  It entails a direct intervention, a direct killing, of a person with or without knowledge or consent.  An example would be refusal to provide food and water to a person, or refusal to use the ordinary means to preserve live.

Passive euthanasia is not euthanasia at all.  It is merely the avoidance or discontinuation of extraordinary means of preserving life.  An example might be the removal of supporting equipment or drug treatment when a patient has irrevocably entered the process of dying.  Such action is moral, legal, and ethical.

Abortion is euthanasia of an unborn child.  Some of those who promote euthanasia for birth selection assert that if we may kill unborn babies, it is also logical to kill handicapped new-borns, and this has been done in our country.

Clearly, these few brief comments about euthanasia cannot examine any details.  You are encouraged to read further - about the false principles of eugenics, the exploitation of euthanasia in Nazi Germany to murder "undesirables", and particularly about the battles being fought today to recognize and preserve every human life.

For information on Euthanasia Resources, please click here.

  This information is brought to you as part of our Culture of Life education and information series by the

OLPH Sanctity of Life Committee - Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church - Scottsdale, AZ

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