Euthansia is cowardice

Vermont has gone and done it. That's not surprising; Vermont is not exactly a bastion of tradition and clear thought. The tiny state has become the fourth state to legalize euthanasia. Like the others, it has failed to ask an essential question.

Did you have a choice in being born? No? Then why should you think you have a say in when you die??

We are not talking here about people taking actions, soldiers, for example, which might result in their death. They are not willing themselves to die but are rather willing to risk death for a cause greater than themselves. Neither should anyone ever equate human suffering with animal suffering and as such justify euthanasia. We are not mere animals; we are sentient, thinking beings on a much higher moral level. Our lives are not to be dispensed with simply because they face a horrible trial, for the person himself or their family, friends, health care providers, or especially the larger society.

In the end, our lives are not ours; if so, we would have willed our births and not simply have had them foisted upon us. As it is, it is below the dignity of human life, even a willing human life, to kill itself merely to avoid anything, even suffering. Our lives are not so shallow as to be ended as with the dumb animals. Assisted suicide as such is not justice. It is cowardice.