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Euthanasia

I. THE RIGHT-TO-DIE
On the night of April 15, 1975, for reasons still unclear, Karen Ann Quinlan ceased breathing for at least two 15 minute periods. Karen was 21 years old when she lapsed into a coma after a fatal drug overdose. Experts testified that she was in a persistent vegetative state. This condition means that although reflex actions may be present, the patient regains neither awareness nor purposeful behavior of any kind. Karen was placed on a respirator and never recovered consciousness. After 7 months, her father requested that the respirator be turned off but the hospital refused. The case reached the New Jersey Supreme Court and in 1976 it rendered the landmark decision that Karen Ann Quinlan had a constitutional right to die. The decision became the pivotal point for the reemergence of the debate on Euthanasia and the birth of Right-to-Die movements.
The right to life is recognized in virtually every society in the world. From the earliest civilizations to modern penal codes, there is a prohibition against murder. Catholic teaching tells us that Direct and Intentional Killing is considered gravely sinful. Human life is sacred and is a basic good. But it is not absolute. If it is necessary for the realization of a preferable value, after consideration of all circumstances, one may be allowed to cause death, a relative disvalue. Richard McCormick argues that "in a situation where taking of human life is truly life saving and life serving in the circumstances, death cannot be regarded as turning against a basic good of life." The value of life may be sacrificed if there is an equal or greater value that has to be protected, if there is no less harmful way of protecting this value, and if in causing death, the value chosen will not be undermined in the long run. The core question that would have to be answered is whether the recognition of the right to die is justified by proportionate reason.
The initial...

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