"I don't think it's smart to allow government into the killing business, and that's what assisted suicide is."
I think you may have missed an important point at the beginning of the article. They said that most people ask their doctor for a perscription (probably morphine or related) and then take it home and give it to themselves. So first of all it is between the patient and the doctor. The only involvement of the government is giving the permission of the patient and doctor to do what they do.
As to denying food a water, my mother was very clear that she did not want to go to a hospital for intravenous or other feeding. And my husband was adament that he did not want feeding tubes. At some point they each became disinterested in eathing or drinking, or unable to swallow and soon slipped into a coma. They did not suffer. I know this because they only groaned if I shifted their body to clean their waste.
As hard as it is for us to accept, there comes a time of multiple organ failure and shutting down when death is inevitable. I have never understood why those who profess to believe in God the most seem the most dramatically opposed to all this. Should people be denied the right to join their God when their body is failing? In fact, as I recall the Terry Schivo case, I was astonished to see all the religious people writhing, wailing and falling on the ground at the thought that this poor woman would soon be with God. If this is faith???
Thank you for you information on care of the terminally ill. You did a wonderful thing for both your mother and your husband.
I realize people ask their doctor for a prescription, but government would have to permit the use of drugs that are designed to kill people. There would certainly come into play various arguments as to who should be given these drugs. I mean people that are ill but not near death or people with depression will request them, and they may become available to people with depression in Switzerland. I firmly believe it will lead to euthanasia as it has in other countries. Allowing euthanasia has resulted in deaths of infants or the elderly that haven't been able to consent. Infants or those in nursing homes are killed under the guise that it is best for them and inhumane to allow suffering. Some people have no one to speak for them in these hospital or nursing home situations. Others may accept the medication to end their lives so as not be a burden upon their families.
I can explain why Catholics are opposed to suicide and euthanasia through the listings of the Catechisms explanations on suicide and euthanasia. I imagine it's the same for most conservative branches of Christianity like Anglicans.
Suicide
2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.
2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Volutnary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminsh the responsiblity of the one committing suicide.
2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
Euthanasia
2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.
2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitues a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and the the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbdden and excluded.
2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legallly entitled to the act for the patient, whose reasonable will and lgitimate interests must always be respected.
2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.