The Morality of Euthanasia - Case Study Example

The physician, an agnostic and a non-believer in any type of faith or religion, and who does not have any moral scruples, tells his younger brother, the priest, that perhaps it is only practical and it is also high time that they accept the fact that it was needless for their Mom to be in the expensive care of the ICU. Even whilst she is able to survive, it appears that with the other health complications, their Mom would most likely lead a vegetable life afterward. The doctor also tells his brother that he can no longer afford to continue supporting their Mom and that for all practical purposes it is perhaps timely to give her the rest that she finally needs.

The priest in the calmest spirit reacts by way of directly asking his elder brother if what he meant was using euthanasia to end the sufferings of . When the elder brother silently nodded yes, some little tears started to fall on both their saddened faces. From all vantage points of view, it would seem that it was the most practical thing that could be done for someone so dearly loved to end all physical pain. However, the priest reflecting on such an inhumane and morally unacceptable act tells his brother that in the book he often reads To Live in Jesus Christ, it is extensively discussed that under the doctrines of the Church, the Ten Commandments most specifically, it is so provided in the 5th commandment that "Thou shalt not kill" (Santos 143), and to commit such an act is to commit a mortal sin.

This book further discusses that "Human life is sacred, (explains the Catechism of the Catholic Church) because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being" (144). Hence, the priest tells his brother that it is for him a condemnable and unthinkable act.

The physician, basically an unbeliever, reasons that the treatment and the preservation of life are imperative only if the quality of life can be sustained. However, if for medical reasons, it is taken as a given that a patient can no longer continue to live a normal life. Aside from the good benefits and the warm loving care from hospice institutions, the nun tells the two brothers of one other special need found in the book, and that is, that “Mother Church wants us to lavish all possible spiritual care on a person who is about to make his passage from this life to the next” (Santos 168).