Euthanasia Debate

The report on euthanasia gave me renewed hope that our world may yet become civilized. My thanks go to the Dutch physicians for their leadership in that direction. WILLIAM L. BAKER El Monte

India's Supreme Court on Monday laid out guidelines for the use of euthanasia in extreme situations involving terminally ill patients, even as it rejected a plea for its use in the case of a woman who has been in a vegetative state for nearly four decades. With the decision, India joins a handful of nations ? including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland ? and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington in allowing some form of euthanasia. India has no law on the issue, making the guidelines legally binding until Parliament passes legislation.

Initiative 119, a proposed measure in Washington state that would have legalized physician-assisted suicide, was defeated Tuesday, but the close vote is clear evidence that the debate will go on. Sensitive issues, once concealed in hushed conversations, but now asked aloud and with immense social fallout, remain.

In a country that has rejected the death penalty and is bitterly split over abortion, the Canadian Supreme Court's decision to refuse leniency in a so-called mercy killing affirmed the principle that no one--not courts nor criminals nor the best-intentioned individual--has the power to decide who shall live and who shall not. On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of a farmer who killed his severely disabled daughter to end her chronic pain.

India's Supreme Court on Monday laid out guidelines for the use of euthanasia in extreme situations involving terminally ill patients, even as it rejected a plea for its use in the case of a woman who has been in a vegetative state for nearly four decades. With the decision, India joins a handful of nations ? including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland ? and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington in allowing some form of euthanasia. India has no law on the issue, making the guidelines legally binding until Parliament passes legislation.

Re "When Law Overcomes Common Sense," Column Right, Feb. 13: Apparently James Pinkerton wonders why we don't keep the courts out of the euthanasia debate and just continue to let doctors quietly kill their patients, even though this is illegal. Is he out of his mind? Whenever something is illegal, yet simultaneously sanctioned and practiced by society, individuals face indiscriminate prosecution. This is already happening and it's a problem. Secondly, we need legal guidelines to prevent abuse and oversee the largely humane and necessary practice, if only to prevent less benign Dr. Kevorkians from popping up and offering their services to our old folks.

In a country that has rejected the death penalty and is bitterly split over abortion, the Canadian Supreme Court's decision to refuse leniency in a so-called mercy killing affirmed the principle that no one--not courts nor criminals nor the best-intentioned individual--has the power to decide who shall live and who shall not. On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of a farmer who killed his severely disabled daughter to end her chronic pain.

California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown predicts that an initiative to legalize euthanasia will qualify for the ballot in November and be passed by voters, even though he believes the prospect of such a referendum is the mark of a political process gone "crazy."

Re "When Law Overcomes Common Sense," Column Right, Feb. 13: Apparently James Pinkerton wonders why we don't keep the courts out of the euthanasia debate and just continue to let doctors quietly kill their patients, even though this is illegal. Is he out of his mind? Whenever something is illegal, yet simultaneously sanctioned and practiced by society, individuals face indiscriminate prosecution. This is already happening and it's a problem. Secondly, we need legal guidelines to prevent abuse and oversee the largely humane and necessary practice, if only to prevent less benign Dr. Kevorkians from popping up and offering their services to our old folks.

Initiative 119, a proposed measure in Washington state that would have legalized physician-assisted suicide, was defeated Tuesday, but the close vote is clear evidence that the debate will go on. Sensitive issues, once concealed in hushed conversations, but now asked aloud and with immense social fallout, remain.

If I am ever diagnosed as terminally ill, my wish will be to travel to the Netherlands. There, I will give myself a wonderful gift: the right to die, to end my suffering and the pain my family will have had. In January, after 5 1/2 months of suffering a crippling stroke, my mother died. She had been sick for 77 of her 79 years with a useless arm and hip dysplacia. She was able to raise a family and work. Through her work, she gave a large portion of her earnings and a small portion of her physical and mental self to the government of this country.