by Vanessa Ylagan

Created on: June 14, 2009   Last Updated: April 15, 2011

Do we have the right to end the suffering of others especially our loved ones?

Euthanasia or mercy killing indeed is a very sensitive topic. Especially if it involves someone you know, someone close to your heart. Question is, is it rightful? Can you really call it by its duplicate term, mercy killing?

We have been taught since the beginning that it is never our right to take a person's life no matter what the circumstances are. It is going to be a very big sin. It is against the law of man and especially the law of God. We do not own our lives, it is merely loaned to us, thus we should learn to take care of it. What if the person suffering is the one who requested that he wants his suffering to end now. Would you be too selfish and heartless to not grant him that request of eternal rest? As I said, we are never given the right to take any life, much more our own. We all suffer in different ways. Nevertheless, there is always this right time when that suffering would end. It is in God's time, and He is the only one who knows when that time will come.

There are some who might argue for the reason that, the person who is about to die is almost considered as dead. Yes, maybe most of his body organs are too weak to live, but he can still be considered alive since that person's heart is still functioning aside from those other organs.

My grandfather died last 2007. He was in his 80s. He had a stroke when he was in his 60s. He couldn't move by himself. We had to fed him, bathe him and do everything for him. He was merely bed ridden. Yes, he had been like that for more than 20 years before he died. But despite that, we took care of him. We made sure that he is still happy despite what happened and that we are never abandoning him. We knew he had been suffering from pain, and trust me, if I am in that position I would rather die on the spot. But my grand father fought for his life and we had shared the struggle. Euthanasia never occurred in our minds. We loved him so much that we wanted him to be just there and not leave us. It has been a year and seven months since he died. We all miss him. There are times when I would sulk in bed and cry every time I think about him. I am just hoping that he is happy where he might be now. And that he should know that we still value him and that we have always been praying for his eternal rest.

Life is valuable. And all people are valuable as well, no matter who that person is. May he be a sinner or not. We should bear in mind that we have been given life and coupled with that is our responsibility to take good care of what is given to us.

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