by Tiffany Steele

Created on: May 10, 2008

One of the oldeest arguments is that suicide is "against nature", and therefore morally wrong. This position has some problems associated with it that are usually to do with inconsistency. If you hold the view that if something is against nature and thus wrong, you have to deal with the fact that almost all medical intervention is at least as against nature, and thus similarly wrong. Some religious groups (most notably the jehovah's witnesses) hold this view, and perfectly consistently refuse most medical intervention as well.

A related view is that life is sacred, and therefore suicide is morally wrong. Again, the main problem with this is due to inconsistent application of this position. A lot of the people who hold this view also hold the view that it is wrong to prolong the suffering of their pets, but can't see that the two views are inconsistent.

Signing a DNR, contrary to what some believe, is not suicide. It is a person's individual choice to die with dignity, or to spare loved ones the trauma of seeing a patient's chest being pounded upon, knowing that it may cause great physical pain and suffering.

When my grandfather was in the final stages of COPD. Osteporosis and heart disease, hospice nurses came to the house(he was living with us) and tried to make him comfortable. He wanted to die at home, but wasn't aware of a DNR. A nurse told both him and us about the importance of having a DNR, because my grandfather could not have withstood resuscitation - it would have caused needless crushing of his ribcage and inflicting horrible pain. My grandfather chose to sign a DNR after talking about it with us. We supported his decision.

Determining how far to go in trying to keep someone alive isn't easy. We all cling to hope that a loved one will survive, and in many cases, people have been saved. But each one of us also has the right to decide when to stop life-saving measures. It gives us a chance to have some control over the sadness of death and how it will impact the lives of those who love us.

I am so grateful to the nurse that allowed my grandfather to know that he had a say in how he should die. And, although I am still young and in good health, I take comfort in knowing that I, too, have a choice, not to committ suicide, but to die in such a way that neither I nor my family will have to suffer. A DNR isn't about killing yourself; it's about living life to the fullest and departing from this life knowing that your loved ones, like you, won't have to continue suffering any more than is neccessary.

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