Responding to Euthanasia
The Rt. Rev. Patrick S. Fodor
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed”
(2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
Euthanasia is intentionally acting to cause death or refusing to take actions morally required to preserve life in order to remove a person fromsuffering. This is sometimes called “mercy killing.” The term “euthanasia” itself means “happy death.” But it is either murder, plain and simple, or a withdrawal of food and liquids to cause death by starvation/dehydration. Euthanasia is a death-causing decision, a judgment that a person’s life is “not worth living” or (increasingly) is “a drain on society” to be eliminated. But to get a handle on euthanasia, we need to look at some essential definitions.