Friday, August 14, 2009

What is a LIFE worth living

I find the attached article from CNN rather disturbing.

Australian quadriplegic granted right to starve to death

As someone in similar circumstances, I have two issues with this and neither has to do with a person's right to die. First, as someone with trach why is this man choosing starvation when just disconnecting from the ventilator is a more humane and immediate choice for achieving one's death. My bigger problem especially in this internet and technology driven world, why are we still emphasizing one aspect of a person's life, the physical, as so important that when that ability is compromised that death is preferred. Life is SO MUCH MORE than our physical abilities because there's the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of a person's life. Even though in this country we sometimes overemphasize the athletic endeavors of some, that's not what we remember in general. It's the impact of a person's mental or spiritual contributions which make a lasting impact on society and if you think about the family and friends that you have lost it is the love, emotional connections that you shared that mean the most not how physical they were. Physical limitations can be increasingly overcome even with the possibility of using robotic arms through the use of brain waves for quadriplegics on the cusp of being an everyday reality. It is time for everyone regardless of a disability or not to re-evaluate what the true value of their life contributions and what makes a life worth living.

Facebook Badge