The assisted suicide fanatics are at it again in the UK, getting behind the lawsuit of a woman who wants to die. Apparently Kelly Taylor, a woman with a terribly painful heart and lung condition, is suing to be given what is sometimes called terminal sedation. It should be called palliative sedation, because if it is done right and at the appropriate time, it doesn’t cause death.
Apparently, the usual pain control measures are inadequate in Taylor’s case. This may surprise some, but I believe Taylor should be given whatever dose it takes to alleviate pain—even if it means a coma. That isn’t the same thing as killing.
Taylor, however, has put it this way, and it is unfortunate: “I don’t want to be here.” Well, making her “not here” would not be a medical act, and she should not have the right to have doctors make it so. Indeed, having it expressed that way could hurt her claim, because (perhaps under the influence of the euthanasia ideologues) she has framed it as a right to die case instead of a right to receive proper medical treatment.
Doctors should alleviate pain. If that inadvertently leads to death, well, that is a side effect of proper medical care. But the euthanasia activists are using this poor woman’s plight to further their ideological desire to be able to be killed regardless of whether palliation will be effective. And shame on them. They are not Taylor’s friends.
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