There is a sad story in today's Telegraph of a young woman who committed suicide in the U.K.. What makes it all the more tragic is she drank poison, called an ambulance (because she didn't want to die alone), then handed the doctor a letter with instructions not to treat her. Guess what the doctors did? Nothing!
This story is disturbing on many levels. First, you have the young woman, who had a history of depression, feel so hopeless that she wanted to die. The church needs to be there telling her and others about the hope we have in Christ.
Next, what kind of doctors do they have in England? I know this is painting with a broad-brush, but this just seems like very disturbing behavior for a doctor. I would hope doctors have some sense that helping others is part of the reason for entering medicine, and the first order of business for a doctor is "do no harm." This woman could have easily been treated and survived, yet the doctors decided against treatment because of her living will directive. If a person is mentally distraught, how can they be of sound mind? The doctors should have exercised compassion and common sense, even if they faced possible prosecution.
Finally, it is distressing that a living will is used to help a person commit suicide. This is a terrible distortion to the process of making end-of-life decisions. Our world has become a place where life is too easily thrown aside.
As followers of Christ, we must be champions of life in this culture of death. We must have a solid understanding of who we are in light of God's creation. Twice in Genesis, God declares that a man's life has worth and value because we are created in God's image. We dishonor ourselves and we dishonor God when we make life so cheap as to throw it away because of depression or to "honor" a piece of paper rather than to honor life.
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