So, a controversy has broken out on Substack about Euthanasia and end of life care.
About whether it is more dignified to go out silently under doctor supervision and aid, or have dignified and aided management of one’s decline towards death.
Like any good Uncouth Barbarian, I’m going to wade into it, and smash things up. As with all my writing, my arguments will be drawn upon Natural Law, openly admitting my Catholic Bias. I will save any Catholic specific stances till the end.
Preparing the Charge
These propositions, in general, apply to all human healthcare. Outside cases are exactly that, outside cases. But you can apply most things to be stated here from the first breath a baby takes to the last breath grandma takes.
I will only mention here, and only briefly, the dangers of putting the power of death into the hands of what I think everyone acknowledges as a tyrannical state obviously willing to lie about health matters after Covid. That anyone trusts them with anything Health after that, costs of insurance/Obamacare/medicaid, and the big pharma/food industry…
The Main Assault
There is no health care that is ever necessary upon which would bankrupt an individual, a family, an inheritance, or a country. Not from birth to death is any such health care required, it is always elective, a choice. You do not morally require a family to impoverish a themselves and put them out on the street to save a newborn, as hard as that is. Now, if the state, community, or a wealthy individual can afford it, it may be morally required for them to do it. AND YES, I am claiming a wealthy individual, if they have excess money, is bound to do so by natural law. Get over it Libertarians.
If none of the above are able to do so, then the individual needing medical attention gets the most humane end of life care that anyone morally responsible can afford, and a good burial. I found myself repeating this often, so keep this in mind for all the following, as I deleted it and simply mentioned affordability when it mattered.
In the same way that all babies are dependent upon their mothers and fathers to be provided food and water, we are required to provide food and water to the elderly. There are arguments for and against IV food based on the fact that mothers provide milk and have to chew food for their babies. I’m open to either at this point in time, honestly. Because hospital care is rapacious, the funds run out quickly, so that’s usually the hard limit, affordability.
We never breath for a human being for extended periods of time. I know of no natural law argument that calls for intubation, resuscitation, CPR, or any mechanical breathing. If someone has a “Do Not Resuscitate” order on their healthcare, I know of no valid natural law argument against it. Even if someone’s on it, affordability or any other personal reason means pulling them off it is never killing the person. It is letting them die a natural death. Unless you have clear evidence of malice you should never judge someone for making this choice.
Unproven medical / experimental treatment is never morally necessary. I don’t care if it’s free or super expensive; most of them have side effect that are unknown and you’re not required to go through it. Nor is anyone required to pay for it.
Expensive Birth Defects. I say this one as someone glad that I was able to have my one of my son’s heart defect covered and not have to pay for it, but Medicaid is unfundable and in several years his kind care simply won’t be covered most likely. I’ve had live miscarriages, which are also heart breaking, and you simply have to accept death in this life. You do what you can, with the funds you have, for the people you can.
*edit* A kindly gentleman
pointed out the need for an honorable death. While Pagans focus on the honor of death, natural law does require that we give people a dignified death - not quiet the same thing as the former can be used to mean only in battle, but the latter can be on a death bed. What this means in practice is that one is required to give all available means to relieve suffering of the patient as they are naturally dying, allow their family to visit them if they are in a hospital (but with all effort taken to allow death to be had at home under the care of family or in home nurse), and a cleric of the soon to die’s religion.You give them pain medication in a step up fashion as you see it is wearing off, with the purpose of relieving pain. If it accidentally kills them, it is not murder. Yes, it takes training to tell. No, you don’t jump to fatal doses, that is murder.
That is the dignified death that everyone is due. It is cheap in comparison to any end of life care that people are able to receive, affordable to any state or community to provide, and we are judged by everyone if we do or do not provide it.
We currently do not on any sort of regular basis.
Death sucks, guys. You don’t make it happen. You love the people that are alive, bury the dead, and love the ones you have. You don’t add people up, ledger style on a asset/liability style. Our Empire already makes us as inhuman as it can, lets not help it. We should value the generational wealth that the young, middle aged, and elderly give to each other. Build upon it, and grow stronger for it.
The Catholic Conquest
We fought a literal Crusade against this Death Cult garbage; the Albigensian Heresy where people believed the Material World was evil, aborted live children, discouraged marriage, drinking, and had suicide as a kind of baptism into the afterlife.
We stamped that out hard. You still hate us for it.
Anyways, the Catholic idea of a good death is that the last moments of death are the most intense moments of battle a soul will ever have. That the pain you go through, providentially given to you by God, will cleanse your soul of imperfections, help you merit Heaven, help others merit Heaven, or you’ll give in to Satan and be damned to Hell.
This is like the Pagan idea of dying on the field of battle, only more epic, world spanning, and completely invisible to all but the participant, the angels, and the saints in Heaven.
By killing a man, you may be damning him to Hell. You don’t know if he needed that time to repent of his sins. You have no idea of the state of his soul.
By allowing him an easy way out, you’re allowing a weak man to commit suicide in his hour of pain, damning him to Hell.
This is to say nothing, and to just now make the Catholic claims of murder by doctor and state.
To also advocate this when the organ donation needs people who are still alive - they made up the term “brain dead” specifically so that they could harvest organs and sell them to people - is beyond the pale.
They want you dead, death cult and all.
Anathema.