What’s the Problem With Assisted Suicide?
I had seen it earlier: Tennessee Death With Dignity Act. Nothing remarkable compared to some of the other Youth in Government bills that could be found in my booklet, but still I watched in a bit of shock as the room full of high school students, all acting as mock senators for the next couple days, voted 67 to 23 in favor of the legalization of assisted suicide for the terminally ill.
Assisted suicide is about what it sounds like: helping someone kill themself. This usually comes in the form of a doctor putting the patient to sleep before giving them a lethal injection, often with terminally ill patients. Britannica describes it as “a procedure in which people take medications to end their own lives with the help of others, usually medical professionals.” This is different from euthanasia, because the patient is aware of what’s happening and is given a choice—and because, rather than simply “pulling the plug”, the patient is given a lethal injection. Many states and countries allow (highly regulated) assisted suicide, and many people (including apparently the majority of freshman and sophomore Youth in Government delegates in Tennessee) support its legalization, arguing that patients should be able to choose when and how they die. Death with dignity, they call it. But God created us in His image, giving us so much value—so much dignity—that only He Himself has the right to choose whether we live or die. We’re worth too much to choose that for ourselves—or to help others do the same, no matter how much pain they’re in.
Of course, nearly all people would hopefully agree that suicide in a regular context is something to be prevented (and many would agree that, though those considering it should receive love and understanding, it’s immoral as well). And at first glance, it may seem different than the “death with dignity” supporters many advocate for. One is usually a result of mental health issues, while the other must simply come from an understandable, reasonable desire to die slightly sooner and in much less pain than the alternative. Right?
Well…not really. In truth, both common instances of suicide and the assisted suicide of the terminally ill come from the same type of motivation: the desire to end life in order to end pain. And yet, this isn’t socially seen as the solution unless the pain is physical and the sufferer is dying soon. (By the way, everyone is dying relatively soon. That’s not a reason to make it sooner.) It’s usually agreed that if a patient has a disorder like depression, they shouldn’t be allowed to commit suicide. In the bill presented at YIG, the writer clarifies, “If in the opinion of either physician, a patient may be suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder or depression, the physician must refer them to counseling. The medication [to cause death] must not be prescribed until the patient is confirmed to not be suffering from any psychiatric, or psychological disorder, or depression, which may cause impaired judgement.” But…isn’t it a sign of some sort of “psychiatric disorder” to want to end your own life? Humans, like all living things, were made with an instinctive desire to live. This desire is very strong, and usually outweighs our need to escape pain, only meeting its match in the need to protect those to whom we owe responsibility. Wouldn’t a person who had lost this desire due to suffering in life traditionally be said to have some kind of disorder? It’s not how God created us to be, and it’s not natural for us. Wanting to die means something is wrong, because death is not good. There’s no way to provide assisted suicide to a stable, mentally healthy person, because no mentally healthy person wants to destroy themself.
In addition, God never gave humans power over our own lives. He is the ultimate authority over life and death…and He made us in His image. That makes it a sin to kill one of us without His permission. The Bible makes this clear in Genesis 9:6: “Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own Image.” Destroying a human—even oneself or another consenting person—is destroying someone made in the image of God. And this, God makes clear, is sinful enough to warrant death for the killer in return. God never says it’s okay to kill an innocent if that person wants to die. He never clarifies that the only real reason we don’t commit murder is because most people don’t want to be killed. No, the verse is clear. We don’t have the power to decide that a person should die unless God has expressly commanded us to.
But, of course, there may seem to be a gaping hole in this logic, one that many would point out. I said we don’t have the power to decide that a person should die—but what about the death penalty? Isn’t that “destroying human life without God’s permission”? And yes, it’s true that I support the death penalty for certain crimes—because God does too. Let me explain: While we don’t follow many Old Testament laws anymore (and yes, some would be less wise in modern times), sin never changed from the Old to New Testament. And God commanded the death penalty in the Old Testament—not just in the case of specific individuals on God’s direct orders, but as punishment for certain crimes as observed by the courts. However, God specifies certain crimes for this, and—unless it’s on His direct orders and the people are acting more as simply the means of His justice—He never commands the death penalty for something besides the crime of an individual. That’s the difference between the death penalty and the approval of assisted suicide. God literally says it’s okay to kill as a punishment for certain crimes—but feeling pain or wanting to die isn’t one of them.
The desire for death—even in the midst of great physical pain—means something is wrong. It means the person is “mentally unfit” to be killed, because wanting death goes against the natural order. There’s no justification for assisted suicide, because God never gave humans the power of life and death. God created humans in His image, and He should have that power, not us. We should want what He wants: life. Choice has nothing to do with us. Indeed, as humans created in the image of God, our souls are worth more than our decision making.
Lilean
That’s really good! I like how you present such a solid argument.
Also, I agree with what you say about the death penalty. I will add that in the case of the death penalty, it is justice for the punishment to match the crime. So for certain crimes, death is the only appropriate path – omitting special cases.