Euthanasia Dialogue

Last night, my husband, a skeptical neurosurgeon, and I were chatting. He was on his laptop and I was on my smartphone, when, all of a sudden, I read about a couple.

“I’m reading about a couple and only seven months after their wedding, the guy fell off his motorcycle and was in a coma for many months. She was told that he may never wake up,” I said, “but he did.”

“What do you mean by never wake up?” my husband asked. “You can’t completely agree with everything you read.”

I explained, “The doctor said he only had a 10% chance of waking up, but the wife never gave up and went to the hospital every day to support him.”

“When the doctor says it’s irreversible, it is,” he said trying to end the conversation. “You can’t spend your whole life waiting for a miracle.”

“So are you saying if the doctors said no, I have to agree? Are these doctors God? No, they aren’t. They can’t decide my life or my family’s lives.”

“We aren’t God, but when I say they have no chance to live, I know what I’m talking about. I know the consequences.”

“I think every case has chance to change.”

“No, cases like this are one in a million. The pain and suffering are equal on both sides. The patient suffers and the family suffers as well.”

“The family suffers, but they are still alive. Look at your grandmother, do you think that she is really suffering? I ask because all she does is sleep at home.”

He argued, “She has been sleeping for 6 years. She’s 98. She has an ICU at home. She has a nurse taking care of her 24/7. Do you think this is a life? And all this money for what? You can save many lives with this money but my grandmother has no more life left.”

“I can’t believe it! You’re thinking about the money?”

“No, I’m talking about letting people die,” he explained. “Did you know we have many kinds of euthanasia? For example, I can apply medication to cause death or I can administer medication only to stop the pain and I can stop giving you the medication that keeps you alive.”

“I don’t know what you are saying. It isn’t easy for me.”

“Our lives are easier than you can imagine. Everyone is born and dies. I think it’s bliss when you die sleeping. You suffer when you are conscious.”

“I think only God can choose who dies.”

“We don’t want to turn off all the machines for nothing. It isn’t so simple but if you interrupt all medications and only wait for God’s action, you force someone to suffer waiting for death. Doctors let you die without suffering. Which one do you prefer?”

“I prefer to never have to decide someone’s life.”