The Euthanasia Debate and My Views

Some months ago, there was a Supreme Court verdict against euthanasia in the case of Ms Aruna Shanbagh, an unfortunate person who has been leading a vegetable like existence. Much comment has occurred in blogs and in social media with good arguments on either side, the pro and the anti proponents. More recently, there was a discussion in Twitter in the Big Battle and I was vehemently opposed to euthanasia.

On the one hand we have a lady who in the prime of her life was brutally raped and left for dead by a cruel person who, if he did feel any remorse, did not bother to come forward and take the punishment due to him. This man will no doubt suffer the fruits of his karma, but the law has not been able to trace him out as yet. So how does one deal with the suffering that Aruna has been going through and the suffering of the nurses and her sister, who must feel for Aruna every time they change her or clean her up. The nurses of the hospital where Aruna now exists were actually glad that the Supreme Court ruled against Euthanasia. This piece is a purely emotional one and does not even attempt to talk legally. Our Supreme Court has wonderful jurists who have decided on weighty matters of the State in an impartial manner and I cannot even hope to come near them in my understanding of Law.

Am reminded of the film Legally Blonde, where the first Professor whose class the heroine Elle Woods attends, says “The Law is Reason Free from Passion.” This is repudiated by Elle Woods, played endearingly by Reese Witherspoon, in the convocation, when she says that passion is a key ingredient in the study of Law and of life itself. I would rephrase it as “The Law is Reason free from Emotion.” We are emotional creatures and the Hon. Judges of the SC can hardly be free of it. They have delivered a judgement based on their understanding backed by detailed knowledge of the Law and they have had the strength of mind to go by the Law and Law alone in delivering judgement.

But we, poor sods, with a limited knowledge of law and driven entirely by the emotions of the moment take sides on the debate of whether or not Aruna’s life should be taken to end her suffering. The Judges decided against, refusing in effect, to be party to killing her.

On a purely personal level, there have been times when I have seen pain and suffering in people and animals. My own daughter, who was four years at that time, went through a lot of pain when she suffered, and finally succumbed to burns caused by a lamp which we Hindus light in our homes. My wife and I did our best to save her life and failed. It was really sad to see her suffer the way she did. Yet, we saw her courage in the way she did not cry even when in great pain. Her ordeal lasted for four days and our grief is for a lifetime. What would my feelings have been if she had suffered over a longer period of time, due to any other reason, say an incurable and painful ailment? Trying to project my responses to an imaginary situation, I would say that I would have definitely have done my best to keep her alive and to cure her. Never for a moment could I have even thought of taking away her life.

That was my daughter. What about the elderly and sick? My grandmother suffered for 9 long years after she suffered a fall that made her bedridden for the rest of her life. She was in her 80s when this happened, but her children, my father and his siblings, cared for her and their love was evident in the way they looked after her. I am sure that much as they would not have liked to see her suffer, none of them would ever have thought of taking her life. Sadder was the fact that she was a spry old lady even at 84 or so and was very active.

We had two dogs till the end of 2009. The elder of the two, Dennis or Dinesh, died in 2008 after a brief illness when he suddenly became weak and stopped eating. Yet we took him to the vet every day, gave him drips and injections in the hope that he would get well. Dennis was 13, which in equivalent human years is 90+. At no time did we consider putting him to sleep.

The bottom-line for me is that we humans are driven by love for our near and dear ones. At no time will we contemplate taking away the lives of those really loved by us. In the case of Aruna too, as seen through the prism of my emotions and thoughts, the courageous nurses of the hospital where she resides have grown to love her. Her sister too lives in the hope that some time or the other Aruna will come out of her coma. There is no objectivity where love is involved. Only outsiders can talk of being objective till something strikes them closer to home. Whether or not we agree with the Supreme Court judgement, we must all salute love and courage exhibited by the nurses and Aruna’s sister who have never allowed their hopes for her recovery to die.