Abortion Case

As a Catholic, I believe that human life is a sacred gift from God to be cherished and respected because every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. In heeding God's command, "Thou shall not kill", we recognize that we cannot end of our lives or the lives of others as we please. We must respect and protect the dignity of human from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. It can also be considered as a corruption of the medical profession where physicians take on an ethical code to serve life and never to kill.

My reaction to euthanasia is one of mixed feelings. Although I support the rights of patients and respect their decisions to use euthanasia, I'm not sure that the patient is clearly thinking at that time (whether because of pain or illness) and really wants their life to be over. Also, I'm not sure if I would be able to let that person go if it was someone close to me, like my mother or father. I think that if the person had created a living will where they requested someone to end their life if they were terminally ill, I would honor their request but I don't think I could pull the plug myself. I would also be concerned that, if it was to become legal, would euthanasia get out of hand and would we have a society where people would be killing each other off in the name of euthanasia? I believe that that would be something to think about.