Dying with dignity

This is in response to Kathryn Lopez's article titled, "Assisted suicide's grave implications" in the Southeast Missourian dated April 21. In it, a terminally ill Maggie Karner glorifies the suffering of her quadriplegic father with phrases such as "he settled in very gracefully," "family greatly benefited from watching his struggle," "joy can still be found in just valuing every moment," "how to die with grace and dignity" etc. Ms. Lopez quotes another source as saying that the reason for the media coverage of assisted suicide was because it profiled beautiful young women.

Terminally ill people holding such noble, albeit unrealistic views on suffering, have every right to enjoy their pain, misery and debilitation. Their physicians have the moral obligation to prolong their life and misery with appropriate medical treatment.

However, there are terminally ill people who believe that there is no "grace and dignity" in unremitting pain and progressive debilitation. They believe that "the rotten pumpkin must be severed from the vine" and they might as well decide how and when. They want to spare their loved ones the burden of physical, psychological and financial consequences of their relentless illness.

Terminally ill patients' right to end their lives must be inviolable. Doctors not sharing this view should be exempted from taking part in assisted suicide. Enlightened doctors and progressive hospitals concurring with this belief should have no qualms in assisting in the suicide of mentally alert and terminally ill patients who wish to die humanely, painlessly, peacefully, gracefully and with dignity.

K.P.S. Kamath, Cape Girardeau