Editor,
This is in response to the article "Assisting people in pain" in Thursday's Daily Lobo. I was extremely bothered when reading this article. Are the people who volunteer at the Final Exit Network not aware of the moral dilemma involved in this act called "self-assisted suicide," also known as euthanasia?
I believe that this falls under the category of murder. I don't care if it is consensual. Nobody has the right to take someone else's life, nor does anyone have the right to take their own life. This is a right only granted to their maker, Jesus Christ. He created all of mankind, and only he has the right to decide when their life should end.
The Bible states in Genesis 2:7, "Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nose, and the man became a living person." We all know the Ten Commandments, but here's a familiar one: "You must not murder anyone," Exodus 20:13.
I am glad to know that assisted suicide is illegal in New Mexico and considered a felony. It should be - after all, it is murder. Kate Watson claims in the article that she is not assisting the clients in their death, but rather giving them advice on how to do it safely. That sounds like assistance to me.
What I don't understand is how the Final Exit Network legally exists. I was surprised at the remark that helping someone to end his or her life is considered "safe." The volunteers think they are helping these terminally ill patients, when in reality they are harming them. I am more concerned for the souls of these patients than the pain they might endure on earth, which is something the people who assist never considered.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
And yet another statement that astonished me was made by Ted Goodwin, which compares human beings to dogs. He assumes dogs are being treated better than humans because they are put to sleep when they are terminally ill and suffering, unlike humans.
One thing he should know is that there is a huge difference between humans and dogs - Humans were created in the image of God; dogs were not. Genesis 9:26 reads, "Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, and over every tame animal all over the earth." So if we are to rule over dogs, how can we be compared to them? Putting dogs to sleep is okay, but putting humans to sleep is not.
A final thought I would like to add is that the machines that terminally ill patients are put on increase the temptation to commit euthanasia. I believe people who would otherwise die if they had not been connected to machines should have been left to die naturally. God is fair and loving - trust him to make the right choice for you and others.
Carolyn Johnson
UNM student
