Advantages
of the Premature-Death Approach to the Right-to-Die
Discourages
Self-Appointed 'Angels of Death'
Under the present system of health-care,
we occasionally hear of doctors and nurses (and even non-professionals)
taking it upon themselves to end the suffering of patients they know.
Usually these 'angels of death' are genuinely operating from compassion.
But sometimes they have been discovered to be killing patients
merely because of some personal dynamics within their own minds.
Laws against causing premature death
might be more effective means of preventing free-lance agents of death
from deciding which patients should live and which patients should die.
Right now all can argue within their own thinking
that we are unnecessarily keeping many patients 'alive'.
There is no regular process for deciding when the give up useless
treatments.
So instead of permitting the patients to be 'treated-to-death',
these 'angels of death' decide to take some hidden action
that brings death sooner than it would have happened under standard
medical care.
Such 'angels of death' sometimes depend on the
experience of others
when they are brought to court.
Because the law does not yet deal specifically with bedside deaths,
such self-appointed agents of death must be tried under the homicide
laws.
And juries are compassionate toward medical-care workers
who show at least some degree of compassion toward their patients.
Juries often fail to convict such 'angels of death'.
But it would be much better if we all know what
safeguards to use
in making life-ending decisions for all patients for whom a choice
would be relevant.
The proposed laws against causing premature death does precisely this:
First it says that no person should take the life of another person,
even if the second person is known to be dying.
This is a criminal offense.
And specific punishments are applied
when anyone is convicted of causing a premature death.
However, the same law also contains a list of
safeguards.
When most of these safeguards are fulfilled,
then the medical personnel and the family know
that they have taken all the necessary precautions
to prevent bringing life to an end before its time.
'Angels of death' will no longer have to operate in
secret,
fearing that their compassionate actions might lead to a prison
sentence.
They will know precisely what procedures to fulfill
in the process of deciding whether a certain proposed death
would be at the best time
for the patient or would be premature.
When right-to-die laws are written in the form
of giving physicians permission to presecribe life-ending chemicals,
then self-appointed 'angels of death' never apply the safeguards
embodies in such laws.
It is just not relevant to what they plan to do.
They are not applying for permission to help someone to die.
They are deciding on their own that this patient would be better off
dead.
Causing-premature-death laws would be specifically
designed
to cover hospital decisions to end treatments, to start terminal
sedation,
to increase pain-medication, & to allow voluntary death by
dehydration.
All health-care workers would be well educated
concerning their correct procedures and safeguards they must follow
to insure that they will not go to jail for causing a premature death.
The people who have formerly operated in the dark as
secret 'angels of death'
can bring their decision-making process out into the open
because there will be regular procedures and safeguards in place
for making reasonable life-ending decisions.
And it will be a genuine relief to the best of these 'angels of death'
that they no longer must bear the burden of making life-ending
decisions in the dark.
Dozens of other people will join in an orderly process
of examining all of the options and only then approving the life-ending
decision.
Created
2-28-2008; Revised