▼ △ B R I ▼ △: 2015

2016 Resolutions

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, by Brigid

In The Official Bitch Club,

Winter Wonderland with My Girls

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, by Brigid

Is Love a Feeling or a Choice?

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, by Brigid

In school work, writing

Should Euthanasia Be Legalised For Children?

Finally, here's my final essay for ESL407. Quite annoyingly disappointing that even for the last essay, she did not relax her marking style just a teeny bit. I only managed to get 1 A. Sigh. . .got a B- for this Argumentative/Persuasion Essay.

I hope my ESL408 teacher will be more lax about marking and be more lenient and generous in giving out As.

So, our final essay was based on our debate topic so for my group - Euthanasia. I chose to focus on whether it should be legalised for children, as it is already legal in several countries but for some countries where it is legalised, there's an age limit or the choice is left to the parents.

Clearly, I need to work on my citations. And writing skills. Sigh.

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Euthanasia is an extremely emotional and controversial topic that has sparked countless debates due to the various ethical issues it brings about. According to the Oxford dictionary, it comes from the Greek words whereby “eu” means “well” and “thanatos” means “death”. Simply put, it is “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” Euthanasia can be administered to animals and human beings of any age, including children. However for children, they are normally euthanised if they are suffering from an incurable disease and suffering immensely or if they are born with crucial birth defects and their parents are the ones who make the decision, with the help of healthcare professionals. As the child has no say in the matter whatsoever, this is known as involuntary euthanasia. As I have mentioned earlier, euthanasia brings about countless ethical issues hence, in my opinion, even though euthanasia eases pain and suffering, it should not be legalised for children due to the moral issues involved and the fact that there are existing alternatives, such as palliative care.

The legal age in most countries around the world is 18; hence, it is the parents who make the decisions for them. As there are lives at stake here, a few important questions would definitely arise. Are parents really capable and worthy of making such decisions for their children? Who are we to decide if a life is not worth living, much less the life of an innocent child? Is this not equivalent to murder? As parents, unless they are in the healthcare profession, are not medically trained and might not be able to come to a decision on their own, in the counties where euthanasia is legal, they would first have to consult the doctor. The child would also be examined and assessed by child psychologists and psychiatrists and some of the key factors that they would put into account and consider would be the quality of life the child would have if they were to continue living and the cost of the medical treatment, if there are any, as the child could be suffering from an incurable disease. No parent in their right state of mind would want their child to die. However, if their child has lived a miserable life since birth and there is no cure at all, they might agree to euthanise their child, just to put an end to their suffering. Majority of countries in the world still have not legalised euthanasia hence, there have been countless cases of parents using other means of killing their own children. For example, in Saskatchewan, there was a 12-year-old girl, Tracy, who was suffering from cerebral palsy, which is a disorder that affects the muscles, movement and motor skills. She had several other disorders, learning disabilities and required multiple operations. She was also unable to carry out any simple day-to-day activities without the help of her parents. Her father was convinced that she was suffering immensely and hence, one day, he left Tracy in his pick-up truck with the engine running and she died from inhaling all the carbon monoxide. This case study, as well as all the others, shows that we really should not underestimate the love a parent has for their child, or rather how much they “love their child to death”, and the lengths in which they would go just to see them out of their suffering, even though it still is not ethically correct.

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According to Shrivastava, Chandrshekhar (2015), in Belgium, euthanasia was legalised in 2002, but only for people in “constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated.” They also introduced a new bill whereby minors, under the age of 18, and as young as 12, would be given the option on whether they want euthanasia to be administered to them. However, it is not as simple as that. Firstly, according to the bill, the child has to “be in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short term,” and depict “a capacity of discernment and be conscious at the moment of request.” Secondly, the child would also have to be assessed by medical professionals, such as child psychologists and psychiatrists, who will evaluate if the child fully understands the concept of euthanasia and if they are aware of the consequences and outcomes of it and lastly, the parent or guardian of the child has to agree to the child’s final decision. According to a palliative nurse, whose niche is in end-of-life care for children, Sonja Develter, she “says she in concerned that giving children a choice would mean they made decisions based on what they thought their families wanted to hear, and that it would be a terrible strain for children who may already feel they are a burden to their caregivers.” Hence, “some paediatricians warn that vulnerable children could be put at risk and have questioned whether a child can really be expected to make such a difficult choice” and hence, they “signed an open letter against the law, claiming that there was no urgent need for it and that modern medicine is capable of alleviating pain.” This shows that children, no matter how mature they act or claim to be, are incapable of making the decision of whether they should die. This option should not even be available to them in the first place.

Also, according to the Hippocratic oath, doctors are not allowed to administer euthanasia to their patients and have to try to treat the patient to the best of their ability as their oath states, “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.” Because of the oath, doctors would try to suggest alternatives to the parents of the child, one of which would be palliative care. Palliative care is a form of specialised medical care for people with terminal or severe illnesses, which tries to soothe their pain, physical stress and mental stress. Pain-relieving drugs are also administered to the patient to ensure he or she is comfortable.

Indeed, euthanasia should not be legalised, especially for children, what with there being alternatives such as palliative care available. After all, abortion is frowned upon and illegal in most countries because it involved killing a child, even though it has not been born yet. The same concept should be applied to euthanasia. Children are innocent hence; euthanasia should not be made available for them. No one has the right to decide if someone should live or die and some children are incapable of thinking for themselves. Even if the parents were to make the decision for them, even though they know their child is free from suffering, they might carry this guilt with them for the rest of their lives and bear a social stigma that they have murdered their child. Say no to euthanasia.

References:

Oxforddictionaries.com,. (2015).euthanasia - definition of euthanasia in English from the Oxford dictionary. Retrieved 22 November 2015, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/euthanasia

MedicineNet,. (2015). Hippocratic Oath. Retrieved 22 November 2015, from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20909 Mukhida, K. (2007). Loving your child to death: Considerations of the care of chronically ill children and euthanasia in Emil Sher’s Mourning Dove. Paediatrics & Child Health, 12(10), 859. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2532575/?tool=pmcentrez (2015) Infotrac Newsstand - Document - Euthanasia for children also. Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://go.galegroup.com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=sunybuff_main&id=GALE|A360708351&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&userGroup=sunybuff_main&authCount=1

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Anyway, here's a few pictures from our last ESL407 class.

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, by Brigid

In Mbartitghiedw, Our Story

Ilunga

Ilunga:
a Bantu word meaning "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time", and - in the opinion of 1,000 linguists surveyed on the subject - the world's most difficult word to translate.

~

"Just tell me! Quick! Tell meeeee."

What finally came out of her mouth immediately shut me up. Disbelief came over me like a huge wave. What she said couldn't be true. She must have gotten it all wrong. It couldn't have been you.

A million thoughts ran through my head. I felt a cold feeling rush and spread through my body. And then. . . I felt totally numb.

I tried to think rationally.

She must be mistaken, It couldn't have been you. Maybe it was a different guy, with the exact same name. Maybe it was someone else who had stolen your identity. Someone pretending to be you.

And then I saw all the messages. I tried to control my feelings and remain calm. And then, tears started to spill from my eyes. The silent cry became a sob.

I didn't care that we were in a public place. My whole world had just come crashing down.

It was hard to believe that someone I had trusted and loved would do this to me. I tried to think back what I had done wrong, especially over the past few months.

I must admit. I wasn't an easy girlfriend to keep. I was difficult and was unfair to you at time. I could be difficult to love, at times. I was (and still am) materialistic. Maybe it was my fault. That I had neglected you a lot and worked too much. Maybe I didn't show my love for you enough.

Maybe I was to blame for what had happened.

I tried to give you the chance to explain yourself. That maybe it was just a huge misunderstanding.

What really irked me though, was the fact that you tried to deny everything at first. Slowly, I managed to pry everything out of you. A new rage of anger filled me. I didn't allow myself to break down and cry in front of you. I wanted to punch you so badly. But I held it back. After all, why should I stoop down to your level? Why should I show you my weaknesses anymore? You became nothing but vermin to me. Dirt that everyone trod on.

I felt a strong feeling of hatred for you.

After I walked away from you, for the last time, and had turned the corner, I leaned against the wall, slid to the ground and just fell apart. I sobbed so hard. It wasn't just my heart that was breaking. I felt like everything in my body was breaking. And it hurt so badly in that moment.

It hurt so much over the next few weeks. Every little thing had me in tears. Everywhere I went reminded me of you.

And then. . . I died inside. I didn't feel anything anymore. I did things without thinking about the consequences. I learnt not to care about others and their feelings. I didn't take care of myself.

I just stopped caring.

I finally understood why you drank all the time. I constantly drowned myself in alcohol. I picked up a lot of filthy habits as well. So many things I'm not proud of but still do to this very day. But the reason why I do them now is different. I used to do it to keep myself from thinking about you. Now I do it because it has become an addiction.

6 months has passed. I do admit, you're still on my mind at times. I wonder how you're doing. What you're doing in life. If you still think about me, and us and what we used to be. I don't love you anymore, nor do I hate you. I've also stopped questioning myself.

I forgive you. And I pray for you sometimes. I pray that you too can heal. And that when you find someone new to love, you will cherish her and not do to her what you did to me. Don't hurt her or push her away when things get tough.

Love her. Treasure her.

Thank you for the past 5 years. Thank you for (once) loving me. Thank you for being selfless at times and buying gifts for me even when you had nothing much to spare for yourself. I wish you nothing but the best for you in your future and life.

This will be the last post of you. This will be the last time I post a picture of the both of us.

Goodbye, Matthew.