A friend on Facebook recently posted a picture of her hand holding her mother’s hand, with these words: “I love to study my mom's hands. These hands have provided loving care to me and my 5 siblings, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren for over 60 years. Over time it has switched to us caring for her. I love you, Mom.”
Unless God brings healing, it seems as if God will soon be calling home this servant of His. Yet I have no doubt that every moment together during these days is treasured.
There is often suffering in death – the last battle before the final victory for believers. And for those who don’t know Christ, the final opportunity to find salvation in the One who suffered death to pay the penalty for our sin. Suffering is a part of our earthly life and a tool ordained and used by God to refine us and draw us closer to Him.
In the Judeo-Christian ethic, life from beginning to natural end is a gift to be cherished and protected. Every person bears the imago Dei – the image of God. What an amazing thought: “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4
Yet there are millions in our culture who deny that truth – who strive to claim the authority over life and death which belongs to God. We saw that play out in the recent election where stark differences were displayed in party platforms and vice-presidential and presidential debates regarding the sanctity of life. While this year’s election saw numbers of pro-life candidates elected, it also proved that the battle for life is far from over.
This was demonstrated as voters in Colorado overwhelming approved a proposal legalizing euthanasia. Two-thirds of voters made Colorado the sixth state in the nation where physician-assisted suicide is legal. That statistic mirrors the national position as a 2015 Gallup poll found that 68 percent of Americans support physician-assisted suicide.
Suicide is always tragic and to involve physicians who pledge in the Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm” is even more tragic. The modern Hippocratic Oath states in part: “I tread with care in matters of life and death. Above all, I must not play at God.”
As Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation writes, “Doctors … are to eliminate illness and disease but never eliminate their patients. Not every medical means must be used. … But in deciding that a treatment is useless, we must not decide that a patient is worthless. Physicians are always to care, never to kill.”
Yet “physician-assisted suicide” was not how the Colorado ballot proposal was described. Rather, it was titled on the ballot and in advertising with the innocuous name, the “End of Life Options” measure. Notice how language is twisted to make the taking of life sound benign. Abortion becomes “pro-choice” and suicide becomes “end of life options.”
However, what is billed as an “option” can/will become compulsory. As opponents of the proposal warned, this law will make it “too easy for big healthcare companies and greedy heirs to financially exploit assisted suicide.” That’s already taking place in other states where physician-assisted suicide is legal, as insurance companies deny medical treatments – but cover the cost of suicide drugs. In Oregon, Medicaid has denied chemotherapy and other procedures, but told patients they would pay for their suicide. And in California where physician assisted suicide is also legal, 33 year-old Stephanie Parker, mother of 4 young children, was denied treatment by her insurance company, but was told they would cover the cost of drugs to put her to death – for a co-payment of just $1.20. Stephanie has already outlived her doctor’s prediction who told her she had only three years to live. That was four years ago. And the chemotherapy which her doctors recommended, and her insurance company denied, could give her even more time with her family. As Stephanie said, “I just want to spend every last second with my kids.”
How long before the “right” to die becomes the “duty to die”?
In the tiny country of Belgium, since assisted suicide was legalized in 2002, the rates of euthanasia have dramatically risen every year. Last year, 2021 people were killed by assisted suicide in Belgium, a country of only 11 million. In the Netherlands where physician assisted suicide has been legal for years, lawmakers are now considering expanding that to those who aren’t terminally ill, but feel as if they have “completed life”. And now the Netherlands and Belgium also allow for the euthanasia of children.
And as Melody Wood And Ryan T. Anderson warn: “The poor, elderly, and mentally-ill are the ones most likely to die by physician-assisted suicide, and the safeguards intended to protect them have proved to be inadequate. Evidence from the Netherlands … suggests that many instances of physician-assisted suicide there were non-voluntary. It is the marginalized who are most vulnerable to being pressured, tricked, or coerced into killing themselves.”
In God’s design, each of us begins life dependent on our parents, and we often end life dependent on our children. From beginning of life to its natural, God-ordained end, this care we give one another teaches us of the intrinsic value of every person. Yet assisted suicide tells the weakest among us that their lives are a burden, that they have no worth. That they – and their family – would be better off if they were dead.
This Christmas I’ll continue my yearly tradition of watching the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. If you’ve seen the film, I’m sure you remember the scene where a despondent George Bailey decides he and his family would be better off if he were dead, until the angel Clarence intervenes in George’s suicide attempt and shows him the preciousness of life.
Clarence: You didn't go through with it, did you?
George: Go through with what?
Clarence: Suicide.
Tollkeeper: It's against the law to commit suicide around here.
Clarence: Yeah, it's against the law where I come from, too.
Tollkeeper: Where do you come from?
Clarence: Heaven.
However, physician-assisted suicide is no longer against the law in six states and numerous countries. And based on the poll mentioned above, it probably won’t be long before it spreads to your state. God’s word commands us to choose life, yet 68 percent of our fellow citizens would vote for death. The persistent work of pro-lifers to change hearts and minds regarding abortion is also needed to change hearts and minds regarding euthanasia. We need to be “Clarences” to those around us and demonstrate not only the preciousness of life, but point to the One who conquered death.
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