Paralyzed hunter didn't wear to end life support

1.    Associated Press.  (2013, November 6).  Nation:  Paralyzed hunter didn’t waver to end life support.  Houston Chronicle, A4.

2.    Category of problem:  Health

3.    Level of problem:  National level

4.    The article concerns:  A man paralyzed by a hunting accident made his own decision to remove himself from life support.

5.    Why is this important to families / individuals OR how does it affect individuals / families?

a.    Competent adults have the right to refuse life support, and courts have upheld those rights over the years.  But, in this case, a man made a decision to remove himself after a devastating injury.  Choices like these can often be a strain on families, and may open up another avenue of legal issues that judges will have to rule.

6.    What are your views on the issue / policy?       

a.    Knowing the time and place when a person is going to die, especially if they are sick or injured, seems like a choice everyone should be able to make on their own.  But, over the years, families have sometimes gone against the wishes of the dying person, and kept the person alive despite those wishes.  It can take a toll on all involved.  Many years back, a doctor from Michigan (Dr. Jack Kevorkian) was involved in many “suicide-assisted” cases where he administered a lethal dose of medicine to people wanting to take their own life because of illness or other malady.  His actions raised many ethical and legal issues, not so much because of the dying person’s wish to end their life, but his involvement in assisting them to do it.  His legal battles resulted in many years of court battles eventually leading him to be convicted and serving prison time.  Other circumstances have been the topic of national coverage where a person has been in a vegetative state, and the choice of removing them from a life-support machine have fallen on the shoulders of family members.  When a person’s spouse makes those decisions, the choice has sometimes gone against the desires of the dying person’s parents or children.  My opinion is that if a person wants to make those choices, they should have the right to.  I do not think anyone wants to be in a state where they place a burden on their families.  In addition to being a conscientious decision, the financial burdens placed on the dying person’s family can create encumbrances for many years.  As heart-wrenching as it is, life goes on when a person dies, and families will eventually pick up the pieces and move on.  Notwithstanding my own religious beliefs, I would not want my family keeping me alive just to keep me alive – I want them to have memories of me as a healthy, living person, not as a shell with no chance of being that person I was before.