Mercy or Selfishness?

The recent furor over issues relating to euthanasia has faded. Terri Schiavo has been gone for several months now, and her case no longer remains to fuel the fires of controversy. Still, it is incumbent upon the defenders of the Biblical worldview to deal with bioethical issues such as these. Proponents of euthanasia use several tactics to support the practice, some of which we have already dealt with on this site. Today, we will be dealing with a reason for euthanasia that is ends up appealing to one's emotions. Typically emotional appeals are hardly worth answering, but I have often encountered this sort of reasoning, and I think it is reasonable to assume that others have encountered it as well.

Let's say the conversation begins with a statement that euthanasia is morally wrong and that you would never participate in it. Sometimes this rejoinder will follow:

"Have you ever had to change your grandmother's diaper because she had lost control of her bodily functions? Have you ever had to spoon feed her? Once you've done that come back and talk to me."

What is the substance of this objection? What is the respondent trying to say? The idea is that you, the opponent of euthanasia, lack the necessary life experience to see that euthanasia is perfectly legitimate and even merciful. Once you have had such experiences, the respondent is sure you will change your mind. The problem with this response is that it has no bearing on the morality of the act of euthanasia.

No one would deny that care for the elderly is difficult on almost every level. It can be physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and emotionally it can be heart breaking. Especially if you were close to the one for whom you are caring. You can remember them when they were sharp and full of life. Now that spark in the eye is gone, but still they linger. However, there is no connection between these facts and the morality of the acts.

We in the United States have experienced untold tragedy due to Hurricane Katrina. There will come a time when all that is left is to find the bodies of those who died. The work will be physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and emotionally heart breaking, will it not? Does this mean it would be morally acceptable for the workers to stop doing their jobs? No. These factors do not influence the morality of an act.

It boils down to this: some seek euthanasia for their elderly relatives because caring for them is hard. That has nothing to do with showing mercy or compassion. It is actually selfishness. They don't want to deal with the difficult road ahead, so they take the easy way out. I realize that this sounds like a harsh thing to say about an emotionally charged subject, but we must not let poor excuses for reasoning such as this stand. It can be generally stated that the morality of an act is unaffected by the difficulty of carrying the act through.