The Linacre Quarterly Volume 40 | Number 4 Article 4 November 1973 Euthanasia and Biathanasia: On Dying and Killing David W. Louisell Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq Recommended Citation Louisell, David W. (1973) "Euthanasia and Biathanasia: On Dying and Killing," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 40 : No. 4 , Article 4. Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol40/iss4/4 pulses had little counte rpa rt in apparently it was amo ng the reac­ the publi c~s reaction, whic h evi­ tors to "The Very Personal Death denced a bitterness not unlike that of Elizabeth Schell Holt-Hartford.'' of Mrs. Holt-Hartford's own declin­ It has come to mean the deliberate. ing years. In a wo rd, the sponsor intended putting to death painless­ Euthanasia and B iathanasia: was c harged with advocating eutha­ ly of o ne human perso n by another, On Dying and Killing nasia. The reactions ranged fro m the willed terminatio n of human the frenetic to the thoughtful, one li fe, which is a euphemism for mur­ David W . Louisell writer po inting out that what was der as defined by our law. It would reprehensible about the program have been better to adhere to the was (according to his interpreta­ original meaning of "euthanasia" tion) that the only solutio n to the and use another word, perhaps "bi­ . problem of old age that was sug­ athanasia" for deliberate, affirma­ '·· .0 .'. gested was euthanasia. One who tive killing in the mercy-death con­ did no t view the program will with­ text. But so pervasive and un iversal hold appraisal of the accuracy of is the te rmino logical corruption Introduction: The Nature the story was a lady li ving me. this essentially artistic judgment that scholars, too, seem to have re­ of the Dilemma who had been d ivorced and ally of .the theme. The interesting thing linquished any notion of restoring Not long ago one of the country"s died at the age of 82, lea' no for our purposes w~s the universal original usage and have accepted great financial ho uses sponsnred a known survivo rs. She o ft en oke use of the word "euthanasia" to the modern meaning of euthanasia. te levision show call ed ··The Very of her dire need for, but I< of. characterize that theme. Yo u have T hus Professor Arthur J. Dyck, in Personal Death of E li zabeth Schell human companio nship. The ·nse advocated e uthanasia , and eutha­ using "euthanasia" in the modern Ho lt-Hartford." It starkly drama­ of her unhappiness can aim be nasia is murder! sense, would adopt as a synonym tized one of the saddest phases of to uc hed fro m her own wo for its original meaning the Latin the human condition, perhaps es­ ·' It's such a grim life; th mly Had I been privy to the reactions expression, benemortasia. 2 thing yo u can do is to bear ll ntil pecially cruel quantitatively and to "The Very Personal Death of quali tatively in o ur generation: the someone shoots you." Her hysi­ Elizabeth Schell Ho lt-Hartford" The Definitional Problem: lo neliness, sense of uselessness and cian tells her, "Yo u do not now when the facl.\lty invited me to de­ Voluntary and Involuntary abando nme nt, and bitte rness of wha t is on the o ther s ide'" a1 she liver the Po pe John XXIII lecture Euthanasia answers "What I know is l this .' many o ld people. The subject of this year, I wonder whether 1 wo uld side a nd l don't want any n ··e of have had the fortitude to persevere it." That she remains ratim• and Taking "eutha nasia", in accor­ with a title using "Eutha nasia." dance with modern usage, to mean Proj"essor Louise//. a member o/ indeed intellectua l even aft she Yet, in its precise mea ning. '"eu­ deli berate , intentio nal painless the Linacre £di10ria/ ad1•isoty broke her hip and was i mm ~ ·l ized thaneasia" is the desideratum of killing is only the beginning of the board. is the Elizabeth Josselyn - po inting o ut for exampl that religion as well as of any mo rally definitional problem. Do we mean Boalt Professor of Law at the Uni­ she kno ws she is lucky co1 Me cl or ethically based socia l policy that to include such a killing o nly when versity of California Law School in to the aged poverty-strid n of has to do with death. Coming from it is sought and requested by the Be rke ley. His article was original~' ' India - seems only to exat rbate the Greek words meaning "good" euthanatee, or also one imposed delivered as the . 1972 Pope John the tragedy by emphasizir the and "death", it specifies the kind upon him without regard to his XXJJJ lecture at the Catholic Uni­ fe lt pain . of a death that must be as much consent - the elimination of defec­ versitv ol America. Ai his request. At the beginning the annl IJ ncer the ideal of the moral theologian tive o r hopelessly ill or senile per­ we p~tbii:sh this article as delivered had sa id: ··Because of the set ~ i tive as it is of the philosopher and sons, for example, Hitler's "useless with all of the nuances arising out na ture o f this program (the sp· nsor) secular humanist - a happy death. eaters"? In a word, d o we mean only of the delicate ethical distinctions has relinquished all comn,c:rcial Yet its corruption seems as perva­ voluntary, o r a lso involuntary, eu­ drawn. messages." But its generous im- sive in popular usage generally as thanasia? 234 Linacre Quarterly November, 1973 235 On the surface, the dichotomy to overly generalize about cw ms on euthanasia was bro ught befo re The Euthan.asia Society of Ameri­ would appear clean-cut. If so, the of euthanasia among primitive 'or ttie United Kingdom Parlia ment in ca was constituted in 1938 and a precise thinker would have cause many societies have actually en 1936. It required for e ligibility fo r bill, following the 1936 British mod­ to resent the countering of argu­ shown to have had elaborate l les euthanasia that the patient be over el, was introduced that year in the ment for o r against voluntary eutha­ protective of their senio r men rs. twenty-one years of age, be suffe r­ Nebraska Assembly but lost. A simi­ "Instances of this are seen in ho nasia, with argument pertinent only ing from an incurable and fa tal ill­ lar attempt fa iled in the New Yo rk tality custo ms, property rights, r, to the involuntary kind. For exam­ ness, and sign a form in the pre­ Assembly.12 "The Euthanasia So­ . taboos reserving certain choice dis , . ........ ·.. .. ple, during the debate on the 1936 fo r the aged (ostensibly as harn· sence of two witnesses asking to be c iety of America had at first pro­ 1.,. bill in Parliament for voluntary .. ;' ·.,. ' to the young) and other usages. "4 put to death. It embraced relati vely posed to advocate the compulsory ·. e uthanasia, one of the promine nt Doubtless the settled agricul ·al complicated legal proceedings in­ 'euthanasia' of monstrosities and pro ponents invoked two dramatic communities showed the ~ est cluding investigation by a e uthana­ imbeciles, but as a result of replies and appealing cases, one where a level of soli citude for the el ;ly, sia referee and a hearing before a to a questionnaire addressed to man had drowned his four year old as witness the laws of the He: :ws special court. In 1950 the re was physicians in the State of New York daug hter who had contracted tuber­ in the Old Testament forbi ing further debate in the House o f in 1941, it decided to limit itself culosis and had develobed gangre ne Lords on a motion in favo r of vol­ the killing of the innocent an' LJ St. to propaganda for voluntary e utha­ on the face, the other where a wo m­ untary euthanasia.7 In classical Greece there doL not nasia."13 To what extent the pur­ an had killed her mother who was The distinguished legal scholar seem to have been abandonm· t of po rted restriction of recent eu­ suffe ring from general paralysis elderly or helpless adults. Of <. trse and specialist in criminal law, Pro­ thanasia efforts to the voluntary of the insane. Obviously these were in ancient Ro me, largely undt the fessor Glanville Willia ms, realizing kind, is a function of the euthana­ instances of compulsory. o r in vol­ influence of the Stoics, suicid was the practical necessity of coun ter­ s ia of Nazi Germany and revela­ untary, e uthanasia, yet, although a n accepted form of death as es­ ing the contention that too much tions of the Nuremberg trials, is the propo nent acknowledged that cape from disgrace at the hat ·, of formality in the sick room would a matter for speculation.t4 In any the cases were not covered by the an enemy, as indeed it wa1. ntil destroy the doctor-pati e nt relation,s event, there is today no country in proposed bill for voluntary e utha­ recently at least in Japan und. the in his classic The Sanctity of Life the wo rld whose law permits eu­ nasia, they were the o nly specific form o f hara-kiri.