The Morality Of Euthanasia

            
             "The third night that I roomed with Jack in our tiny double room, in the solid-tumor ward of the cancer clinic of the National Institute of Health in Maryland, a terrible thought occurred to me. Jack had a melanoma in his belly, a malignant solid tumor that the doctors guessed was the size of a softball. The doctors planned to remove the tumor, but they knew Jack would soon die. The cancer had now spread out of control. Jack, about 28, was in constant pain, and his doctor had prescribed an intravenous shot, a pain killer, and this would control the pain for perhaps two hours or a bit more. Then he would begin to moan, or whimper, very low, as though he didn't want to wake me. Then he would begin to howl, like a dog. When this happened, he would ring for a nurse, and ask for the pain-killer. The third night of his routine, a terrible thought occurred to me. 'If Jack were a dog, I thought, what would be done to him?' The answer was obvious: the pound, and the chloroform. No human being with a spark of pity could let a living thing suffer so, to no good end." (James Rachel's The Morality of Euthanasia) .
             The experience of Stewart Alsop, a respected journalist, who .
             died in 1975 of a rare form of cancer gave an example on the morality .
             of euthanasia. Before he died, he wrote movingly of his experiences .
             with another terminal patient. Although he had not thought much about .
             euthanasia before, he came to approve of it after sharing a room with .
             Jack. While growing up, each of us learns a large number of rules of .
             conduct. Which rules we learn will depend on the kind of society we .
             live in and the parents and the friends we have. We may learn to be .
             honest, to be loyal, and to work hard. Sometimes we learn a rule .
             without understanding its point. In most cases this may work out, for .
             the rule may be designed to cover ordinary circumstances, but when .
             faced with unusual situations, we may be in trouble.