Advantages
of the Premature-Death Approach to the Right-to-Die
Discourages
Self-Appointed 'Angels of Death'
Under the present system of health-care,
we occasionally hear of doctors and nurses (and even non-professionals)
taking it upon themselves to end the suffering of patients they know.
Usually these 'angels of death' are motivated by compassion.
But sometimes they have been discovered to be killing patients
merely because of some strange dynamics within their own minds.
Laws against causing premature death
might be more effective means of preventing free-lance
agents of death
from deciding which patients
should live and which
patients should die.
Right now everyone can ask:
Are we unnecessarily keeping some patients 'alive'?
But there is no regular
process for giving up useless
treatments.
So instead of permitting the patients to be 'treated-to-death',
these 'angels of death' decide to take some hidden action
that brings death sooner than expected under standard terminal care.
Such 'angels of death' sometimes depend on the
precedent of others
who were acquitted
when brought to court.
Because current law does not mention bedside decisions
in hospitals,
such self-appointed agents of death must be tried under homicide
laws.
And juries are sympathetic toward medical-care workers
who show compassion toward their patients.
Juries often refuse to convict doctors and nurses who were
'angels of death'.
But wouldn't it be better to know in advance what
safeguards to use?
How should we make end-of-life choices for dying patients?
The proposed law
against causing premature death
offers detailed guidelines
for separating beneficial
help from obvious harm.
First, it says that no person should take the life of
a patient,
even if the patient is known to be dying.
Killing patients remains a
criminal offense.
And specific punishments are imposed
when anyone is convicted of causing a premature death.
However, the same law also contains a
list of
safeguards.
When most of these safeguards are fulfilled,
then the medical personnel and the family know
that they have taken all the best precautions
to prevent bringing death prematurely.
'Angels of death' will no longer have to operate in
secret,
fearing that their compassionate actions might land them in prison.
They will know precisely what people to ask
in the process of deciding whether a certain proposed death
would be at the best time
for the patient or would be premature.
When right-to-die laws are written in the form
of giving physicians permission to prescribe life-ending chemicals,
then self-appointed 'angels of death'
never apply the safeguards
embodied in such laws.
It is just not relevant for what they plan to do.
They are not applying for
permission to help someone to die.
They are deciding on their
own that this patient would be better off
dead.
Laws against causing premature death would be
specifically
designed
to cover hospital
decisions to end treatments, to use terminal coma,
to increase pain-medication, & to allow death by
dehydration.
All health-care workers would be well educated
concerning the correct procedures and safeguards they must follow
to ensure that they will not go to jail for causing a premature death.
The people who formerly operated as
secret 'angels of death'
can bring their decision-making process into the open,
because there will be regular procedures and safeguards in place
for making reasonable
end-of-life decisions.
And it will be a genuine relief for the best of these 'angels of death'
that they no longer must make the life-ending decisions on their own.
Many other people will join in an orderly process
of examining
all of the options for end-of-life care.
Created
2-28-2008; Revised 8-25-2008; 3-4-2009; 6-7-2009; 3-27-2010; 2-15-2011;
1-17-2012; 1-26-2012; 2-29-2012; 3-30-2012; 7-20-2012; 9-7-2012;
4-7-2013; 6-19-2013; 6-20-2014; 3-18-2015; 7-15-2015; 8-10-2016;
2-22-2018; 12-2-2020;
Here
is a list of the 13 safeguards that would be most effective
for
discouraging free-lance angels of death:
CONTROLLING
FREE-LANCE 'ANGELS OF DEATH'
Go
to Books
on
Helping Patients to Die.
See especially the first book on underground aid-in-dying.
People who want to help patients to die
will benefit from the safeguards included
in any new laws against
causing premature death.
The above argument is also contained in a book called:
How
to Die:
Safeguards for Life-Ending Decisions.
It is Section G of Chapter 60:
"Discourages Self-Appointed 'Angels of Death' ".