Though condemned, euthanasia is known widely as mercy-killing. For many Christians, the act of euthanasia is wrong as it is believed to negate God’s supremacy over life. In certain terribly harrowing, debilitating situations, who holds the rationale to end another’s life? KEHINDE OYETIMI asks.

THE beam of the morning sun shot through the window blinds. Its sharp ray woke up Justin Grey who was meant to travel that morning. Maggie and the children were less excited because, Justin, their dad was travelling. “Honey, please there is water in the tub. Hurry up,” Maggie, Justin’s wife, said. Reluctantly, Justin made for the bathroom. After the bathroom rituals, he had a quick breakfast, after which the family, being a devotedly Christian home, got together for prayer. It was most passionate as Maggie and the kids punctuated the prayer session with sighs. Eventually, Justin drove off the garage.

It was mid afternoon, the next day when Maggie’s phone rang. She screamed after she listened to the caller. Justin had an accident while returning from his trip. Amid tears, she took down the address of the hospital where she later rushed to. She saw her once lively husband in such pitiable state; he was in a state of coma, helplessly hanging on. Maggie stood as she prayed that her husband recovered. The gentle giant, as Justin was called later woke in tears as he contorted his face signalling the unbearable pain that he was going through. The doctor called Maggie aside and told her the complicated situation that Justin was in. The accident had totally ruptured his spinal cord with some part of his brain severely damaged. “Madam, your husband is as good as dead. Death is the only relief that could be administered to him,” the doctor said. As usual, Justin went into a state of coma.

It was the second month and the third hospital that Justin was transferred. With each passing day, the pains he underwent were more unbearable. The overseer of their church had visited and prayed severally. Justin was kept alive with the help of a life support machine. All the hospitals visited advised overtly or covertly a painless remedy—mercy killing or euthanasia. Maggie, the kids, Justin’s mother and siblings stood there as they helplessly watched him pine away. The accident had reduced him to a vegetable state. He was unconscious of his environs. He came out and went into fits and comas. Justin had lost his memory; he couldn’t recognise anyone, not even his wife. Months gave birth to a year and still no cure was found for Justin.

Miranda was due for delivery. It was nine months; the pangs of childbirth came tearing her apart. Andrew, Miranda’s husband, took her into his car and sped to the hospital. After some diagnosis, the doctor observed that she was ready to put to bed. After a while, the doctor discovered some anomaly. He called Andrew to his office and carefully informed him of the complication that had arisen. The choice was spelt out before him—the baby would live if the mother would die and the mother would live if the baby’s life would be terminated.

Time and time over, euthanasia or painless death has occupied the front burner of public debate both at the secular and religious spaces. Euthanasia implies the act by a third party either a physician or a close relative ending the life of a patient usually done in response to awful and unbearable pains.

There are two broad types of euthanasia: voluntary and involuntary. While voluntary euthanasia involves the consent of both the patient and the doctor to end the patient’s life, involuntary euthanasia implies a third party taking a patient’s life without the consent of the patient. A dichotomy has also been created between passive euthanasia and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is letting a patient die by withdrawing life-prolonging medical treatment to hasten death in the patient’s interest, while active is doing something that kills the patient.

Many have argued against the legalisation of euthanasia, stressing that only God possessed the right to end an individual’s life. For many Christians, Genesis 9:6 holds true: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God has he made man.” They further argue that God’s dominion includes all life, which means that the issue of suffering is part of God’s programme for the Christian. It is equally opined that this in whatever circumstance must be received knowing that it is from the hands of a loving father.

For those on the other side of the divide, they espouse reasons for this. They contend that people should not be forced to stay alive. The postponement of death, which they claim is usually done against the patient’s will, is against the law. For them, a time comes in medical process when the repeated attempts to cure a sick individual would not be seen as compassionate, medically sound or wise.

While relieving an unbearable pain through death may constantly be kicked against, there are many instances that the individual’s life which is involved may impose more problematic situations. The use of high doses of morphine in cancer patients and the hastening of death by stopping the life support machine by doctors have received many criticisms. The issue of euthanasia has taken various interpretations based on continued human experience. What happens with individuals who are better off dead than alive? How does one account for sustaining the lives of infants with serious handicaps, people suffering from severe depression, comatose patients and even the demented? These are without doubts very debilitating situations where choices must be made.

In an interaction with Tribune Church, an individual who spoke under anonymity detailed the painful experience of his uncle. According to him, “My uncle gave birth to his first son, sometime in 1999. However, the happiness of my uncle was truncated when it was discovered that the baby had some anomalies. The baby had no sense of irritability. The boy could not hear and after about 5-6 months of conception, it was discovered that his legs remained the same. He didn’t crawl, he couldn’t sit on a chair; he couldn’t walk. When pinched, he didn’t cry out.

“At some point, it became obvious that the only sense he had among the six senses was that of sight, as one couldn’t really tell if he enjoyed the food he was usually given. By the time he was a year old, my father along with some other relations advised my uncle to starve the baby to death or simply take him to somewhere to be killed. According to them, the baby was better dead than alive as it would continually be a liability and burden on the parents. My uncle’s wife, being a nurse, agreed, but my uncle was not convinced. He believed that something could still be done about his son’s case. Some few months later, they moved to the United States but the medical prowess of the US did not really change matters. It’s been 10 years and the boy’s condition is the same. The only difference is that from his head down to his waist, he looks normal but his calves are still like that of a baby’s.”

For Dr. Wale Okediran “I don’t believe in euthanasia because nobody should play God with other people’s lives. There have also been cases that were considered terminal only for such to make dramatic recoveries. Such lives would have been lost if euthanasia had been an option. Therefore, I don’t think that anybody is qualified to order the termination of anybody’s life. There are a lot of medications that can alleviate a terminal patient’s pain so that he/she can die peacefully.”

Pastor Soladoye of Christ Life Church, Ibadan, strongly condemned the act. “No one should help another person die. In every situation, we should let God have the final say regardless of the situation. We hope that people die naturally, helping them die is sin. If the family can continue to finance the patient, they should not give up, but if the family cannot afford it, the patient should be considered already dead but before then they should talk to God. In situations where a pregnant women’s life is threatened by a pregnancy, it is advisable to terminate such pregnancy,” the cleric stated.

Dr Modupe Okubanjo argued that despite the fact that it is wrong to use euthanasia, “the family of the patient has the right to ask for it but I will never advise euthanasia for a patient.”

In his reaction, Dr Lewis  Akinola, former Chairman of NMA, Oyo State, stated that “Actually, euthanasia is a difficult thing in Nigeria because it is against the law. In countries that practise it, the doctor would recommend it. If the relatives give the go ahead, fine. But it is illegal in Nigeria and in some other parts of the world. If you look at the dividing line between it and religion, a life that you cannot give, why are you taking it? That is the argument of the theologians.

“On the side of the doctor, when you know that that care you are giving is futile, and that death is the eventual thing, why are you wasting money? This is the reason many give for euthanasia. But in itself you can’t decide to take a life that you cannot give. For the Christian doctor, he or she should just continue to hope against hope. You are not the giver of the life so you are not duty bound to take it away.”

How does one cope with a bedridden relative who has been in a state of unconsciousness for years defying medical and spiritual remedy ? If a mother’s life is saved at the expense of her baby’s, is this not similar to killing? A patient who has been undergoing severe pains for years, does he or she not have a right to end such life? How is the quality of life measured? What cure could be recommended for persons who are hopelessly ill, desperately ill and leading meaningless health lives?

Additional reports by Gboyega Adeniyi and Olaide Aladesanmi.