By Rashid Samnakay, New Age Islam
25 June 2018
The news of the English born ecologist and
botanist Dr David Goodall of Australia, who travelled to Switzerland for
assisted euthanasia at the age of 104, is now a world renown news event.
He was highly resentful that at his age he
had to travel from Australia to Switzerland, where medically assisted
euthanasia is legal. He showed his disappointment by wearing T-shirt printed
with “Ageing disgracefully” for his journey there.
He was not terminally ill and was of sound
mind, but was recently suffering from old-age related ailments. He was a
staunch advocate and activist for legalising assisted euthanasia for even
“...rather less than my age... ” for people of sound mind.
It is well known that a few countries and
States in the first world have legalised assisted euthanasia but only for
'terminally ill' people. That is to say that such people already have to be
'dying in pain (languishing) to be assisted to die'!
The debate on this emotive and complex
subject, of person seeking legalised assisted suicide revolves round a few of
these issues:
Human dignity
of the person
Human Rights
of the person
The wishes of
a sound minded person with respect to time and place of dying
The society's
norms, legality and implications of the wishes of the person
The Religious
edicts and norms of the religion and beliefs of the person
The immediate
Family, its responsibilities and expectations in carrying out the wish of the
person dying
The medical
knowledge of the times, particularly if the person is languishing in ill health
In many countries, one of the stumbling
block for lawmakers, in legalising assisted suicide is the over reach of
religious belief, that is – God gives life and God takes life – and its
morality; which Dr Goodall had rejected.
Here, it is argued that in both cases, that
is, God giving and taking life, it neglects the day to day practical
interventions that mankind has always made in bringing life into the world,
also to prolong and in ending it. The churches not only accept these
interventions but find spiritual arguments to support it on the basis of
compassion.
In the first case, of bringing life into
the world to comply with - “go forth, be fruitful and multiply ...” - is the
basis of all rituals of marriage so as to bring the man and the woman together
within the accepted norms, morality and legality of society. Then if there are
any impediments in the couple bringing in the world a child of the
marriage-bed, naturally and in accordance with God's laws of combination of
male sperm and female egg, the State and medical fraternity, with churches
blessing spare no effort in intervening and assisting the couple in the process
of “multiplying”.
During pregnancy if the mother's life is in
danger, to save it it is accepted and the unborn child can be aborted. Yes, God
gives life in accordance with this law when every thing is appropriate for the
process to succeed. If not, mankind hugely intervenes in many ways to assist
nature along. And that is not considered as 'playing God'.
In the second case, of taking life, that is
killing; mankind intervenes in many ways too to stop the heart, lungs, brain
and other body organs from functioning. For example in some countries, capital
punishment for various crimes, calls for taking of Life. Life is taken away
legally by killing the criminal by hanging, shooting, by guillotine, with
sword, electrocuting or administering lethal medicine! The least is 'life
imprisonment', depriving a person of 'living' but allowing breathing but
languishing in confined space.
The most common legal and large scale 'killing
field' is the State deploying its mostly young men and women in wars, to kill
and get killed and then honour them nationally and also posthumously as heroes!
Arguing it to be in the cause of “just war”, for the good of humanity; to
comply with the religious institution. This too is not considered as playing
God.
The Hypocrisy of It All Is Mind
Boggling.
Australian Medical Association’s current
president, echoing many a politicians' religiosity, said among other things on
this subject that:-
“I have serious concerns about a community
where we make arbitrary decisions about whose life is valuable enough to
continue and whose should be ended under the law.” This suggests that the
wishes of the mentally sound and sensitive person, conscious of his or hers
self-worth, the “I” - to die in a dignified manner and Human Rights have no
value. The president forgets that the demand is for legislation to legalise
assisted euthanasia and “that is not arbitrary and also it is the person's
considered decision to die”.
The politicians are abrogating their God
given capacity to use their reasoning and law-making responsibility by
sheltering behind the religious and some medical arguments, to allow competent
adults of sound mind to die with dignity when they want to, which is their God
given Right.
Was it Galileo Galilei who argued with the
church that:
“I do not feel obliged that the same God
who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego
their use”?
The lawmakers and medical fraternity influenced
by lopsided religious and moral arguments exercise their Right to make the
person languish in physical and or mental pain. They argue for example that
palliative medicine can take care of the suffering. A humanitarian act of
kindness and compassion?
It may do so for the physical pain but not
the mental anguish.
Palliative care too, it is understood is a
form of slow killing in that increasing doses of morphine are administered
which results in organs failure. A form of killing with kindness over prolonged
period never-the-less!
Yet a few Doctors in the world are known to
have admitted that they have exercised their Right to assist people wishing to
depart in dignity. Compassion felt by the departing for the living had
eventually won.
The fear expressed generally in this
argument, is that the law could be misused to commit murders .This then speaks
volumes of the incompetency of the lawmakers to frame the laws as watertight as
possible. It is a fact that no law is ever watertight. Which law of the land is
not manipulated by cleaver lawyers arguing in the courts of Law when defending
their client? Here the clear difference is to be made between morality and
legality. It is obvious that the use of craft based intelligence is accepted as
a norm in justice system.
The gift of 'sense, reason and intellect'
is what makes us human being, a person who is conscious of his/her worth in the
society and sensitive to the issues of any burden they may impose on the
institutions of State and life circumstances of family. Once they lose the
ability to enjoy 'Life' independently and make contribution to the well being
of the family, society and country; the pain is intensified many fold. With the
realisation of one’s dependence on others and impositions on them, the sense of
loss of dignity magnifies. This sense cannot be eliminated by modern social
system and advances in medical technology.
“First do no harm” - the revised version of
modern Hippocratic Oath though does not necessarily cover the entire ethical
and moral spectrum; never-the-less shows that some thought is now given in its
administration in many Medical schools. The given modification in its broadest
sense should mean that no harm is done to the dignity and natural Rights of a
person wishing to terminate his or her life and at any age, as Dr David Goodall
said ; of course within the guidelines of compassionately enacted laws. This is
the corner stone of any justice system of civilised society.
Unfortunately, even though death is
accepted as part of “Life” and inevitable, in many religious communities this
subject is a taboo, and not polite to discuss it openly. It should not be so
for Muslims. For far too long archaic theological and primitive arguments has
robbed the law makers the ability that God has endowed them with intelligence
to legislate to -- “do good “for humanity.
It is time to change the religious mind-set
of people to do just that, and obey the Creator's command that He has forbidden
to take life except “Rightfully”. There cannot be a more compelling “Rightful”
purpose than maintaining the dignity of “Life” at every stage of its journey in
this world, for a sensitive person of sound mind and mature age. In dying there
is a concern for others.
If David Goodall, a nonbeliever in the
After-life, but a believer in Life-after was to lobby Muslims for his cause; he
would have echoed 'Iqbal's' thoughts to them:
Maut May Bhee
Zindagani Kee Tarap Mastoor Hai
Concealed in
Death is also the Concern for Life.
Rest in Peace Dr Goodall!
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/rashid-samnakay,-new-age-islam/assisted-euthanasia-–-concern-for-the-living/d/115635