Tagebuch 1966-1971 (suhrkamp taschenbuch) (German Edition)

told Mrs. Barclay they agree with her decision and will try to see that it is carried out.
    Mrs. Sydney Appel, 54, is a Brooklyn housewife who also signed the document. But her four children are vehemently opposed to the will, because they don't believe such a death could be handled in »a responsible manner«.
    »What about the woman whose children felt she was an inconvenience?« asked Mrs. Appel's son, Douglas, 17. »If she had already signed the will, it would be no great difficulty for the children to do away with her.«
    To the people who are active in this country's two major euthanasia groups (the Euthanasia Educational Fund and the Euthanasia Society of America), euthanasia generally means one thing: The right to die with dignity. Indignity, to them, means deterioration, dependence and hopeless pain. But to many other people, euthanasia (derived from the Greek for »good death«) means »mercy killing«.
    Proponents of euthanasia predict that family discussions such as those that occurred in the Barclay and Appel families are going to become quite common in the next few years as the subject of death, and whether the patient has the right to decide how and when he wants to die, is brought out into the open.
    There are indications that this is on the verge of happening now. A »right to die with dignity« bill was recently introduced in the Florida Legislature, stating that a patient suffering from an incurable, fatal and severely painful illness should have the right to ask that his life be painlessly terminated. The bill is now in committee.
    Courses on death have been filled to capacity this year at both New York University and Union Theological Seminary. The technical advances in the medical arts (new life-sustaining drugs, organ transplants, artificial kidneys, auxiliary hearts, defibrillators, pacemakers and respirators) have resultedin dialogues among young medical students, who do not always agree with these artificial means of keeping dying patients alive.
     
    Making own decisions
     
    And the recent liberalization of abortion laws in several states has added fuel to the arguments of those who believe that people should have the right to make their own decisions regarding life and death.
    »All of my friends like to talk abouth death nowadays«, said Mrs. Henry J. Mali, 67, of Manhattan, president of the Euthanasia Educational Fund. »It's even a subject of conversation at cocktail parties. People seem charmed to find somebody else who wants to talk about it.«
    Almost 20 000 persons have requested the »living wills« in the 18 months that they have been available, according to Mrs. Elizabeth T. Halsey, executive secretary of the Euthanasia Educational Fund, at 250 West, 57th Street. She said that she received 50 requests a day for the wills, which are not legally binding, and recently ordered 10 000 more.
    How does one die with dignity? One of the lines in the »living will« says: »I ask that drugs be mercifully administered to me for terminal suffering even if they hasten the moment of death.«
    At present, doctors who carried out this wish could legally be charged with murder. This is perhaps the major reason why people consider euthanasia abhorrent – or because it is often used interchangeably with the term, »mercy killing«, which in turn is usually associated with the killing of babies who are born with mental or physical defects. (To many others, euthanasia is equated with Hitler's program of killing mentally and physically handicapped persons.)
    »It is a common misunderstanding that we advocate mercy killing«, said Jerome Nathanson, chairman of the board of leaders of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and a strong proponent of euthanasia. »But actually, mercy killing is the complete antithesis of what we seek.«
    »The question ist not one of killing people«, he added, »It is the question of letting one die.«
    Mr. Nathanson, whose wife died of cancer in 1968, said he believed that the new honesty and openness among American youth might help change public attitudes about euthanasia.
    »Sexual relations are one's private affair«, he said, »and one's attitudes on death should be a private affair.«
    Mr. Nathanson said he knew of a doctor who, if a patient is suffering from a terminal illness, leaves three pills on the bedside table and tells the patient, »Take one every four hours. If you take them all at once, they will kill you.«
    »I don't know why all doctors can't