The Wisdom of Experience Versus the Joy of Smaller Jeans

Youth is not all it's assumed to be. You may be able to run faster and fit into smaller jeans when you're young, but youth is not often blessed with the wisdom of years. 

In the big scheme of things, the wisdom of experience counts for considerably more than smaller jeans.

Today, we're talking about aging and the issue of physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia.

This movement seeks to "end suffering" and "give dignity to dying". It's gaining support around the world. 

This is a terrifying trend. It opens up a vast array of "reasons" to speed the dying process. It changes our view of death. It denies the blessing of suffering. It makes abuse of the system much easier. 

This is a slippery slope down which our nation has begun to slide, and we must take a stand. Reevaluate death and dying. Reconsider what we assume will bring dignity and lessen suffering.

Life is precious to God. He holds life and death in His hands. What about "thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13) is hard to understand? To take the ending of life into our own hands is nothing short of sin. 

All life matters because all life is valuable to God. It should be valuable to us, too, but I'm afraid we care most about all life that is just like our life. 

Skin that's the same color as ours. 

Age that's the same age as ours. 

Circumstances and choices that are the same as ours.

God is the creator and author of life, and He cares about all of us, no matter how old or young we are. He loves us, and He doesn't want to leave us in our sin. He wants us to change to become more like His Son, who said, "Love God. Love others. Follow me." He often uses circumstances to bring us to the change point we don't always want, but almost always need.

I understand that we spend an inordinate amount of money in the last year of life. That's partly because people say, "Do all you can do, Doc." They don't have any idea what that means, but I'm telling you something important. As doctors, we know how to do more than you would ever really want us to do. Quit saying that. Instead, say, "Do what's appropriate." 

Physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia comes with the dubious "benefit" of decreasing the amount of money spent in the last days of life. Hospice care that allows death to come in God's timing is a much better choice. 

We all die, and nothing will change that. Psalms 139:16 tells us that we have a pre-ordained number of days and God knows how many there are. If you think medical science can change that, you don't understand medicine or God. (Active killing is another matter.) 

I know that we love our families dearly, and we don't want them to suffer. We want them to live and be vital and active. There comes a point in all our lives, though, when the vital and active days are over. There comes a point in many lives when our last days are hard. Our instinct is to reject those hard days, to make them stop. Bring them to a end. After all, who wants to suffer? Who wants their loved ones to suffer? To linger?

Before we go further, let's clarify what I mean by suffering. To suffer is commonly considered to feel pain or distress, but it can also mean to sustain injury, disadvantage, loss or penalty. I am not referring to the suffering of pain. Medication is available to control pain. I am referring to the emotional distress of loss of any kind or of distressing circumstances. 

There is nothing inherently wrong with suffering. I didn't like it, but God has taken me through several big bouts of suffering. Some because of my own sin. Some because of someone else's sin. Some just the natural course of living and dying. It was always hard. I was always forced to seek God in a deeper and more personal way. I was always forced to rely on His strength and not my own. It was pure agony and, eventually, total joy. 

I got through it. 

On the other side, I emerged stronger. More resilient. More loving. More forgiving.

I've had to watch people I love suffer. It was agony, then, too. It drove me to my knees and kept me there. I grew. They grew. The suffering was not wasted. It never has to be.

This movement toward assisted dying cloaks their deception in lovely words that make it sound good and noble. Please, I beg you, look at the truth. Life is precious. No matter what form it takes. Who has the right to decide whether it should end?

Four states already have laws that make physician-assisted suicide legal. There is a move in Canada to limit conscience protection for doctors who refuse to participate. In fact, there are some who feel screening for conscience should be done prior to medical school so that those who would deny medical assistance with dying would, themselves, be denied the opportunity for a medical education. If that doesn't chill your heart, it should.

Voters in Colorado will vote for more than the president in a few weeks. They will also vote for or against a law that provides "medical aid in dying". The Denver Post is running a poll to determine the trend in voters' opinions before the vote. When I first saw this poll a few days ago, the numbers were chilling. 65% of those who responded to the poll were in favor of physician-assisted suicide. It's now 56% for and 44% against, after thousands of votes cast. 

I urge you to read the article, do a little research, take the poll. (Click here for the article and poll.) 

If you live outside Colorado, you may wonder why this matters to you. It matters because it started in one state. It has spread to three more. Now, a fifth state is considering this law. This is a disturbing trend. Do not assume your state will be spared. Those who fund this movement will continue to press their cause, just as they have in Canada.

When voters who are undecided view the results of the poll, they may be swayed by the results they see. It is worth the effort to make your voice heard.

Today, let's pause long enough to affirm our commitment to life, in all its forms, all its stages. Let's take a stand. Teach the value of life. Live it. Pray like your life depends upon it. As incredible as it seems, one day, it might.

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Psalm 139:16 nasb

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The photo above is of my grandmother. She died at an advanced age of breast cancer in the days before hospice. Her doctor and nurses made house calls, taught us to care for her, and kept her comfortable. She died at home with family around her. She knew she was loved and valued every day of her life. Even when she couldn't speak, she could still hear us. My mama died the same way, at home, with family by her side. Loved and valued. They both died with dignity, and no one ever considered hastening their deaths.

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In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Glorifying God in Everything We Do

Update on Sam's Kids Boot Project: $4425 raised so far. That's 368 pairs of boots! Still a long way to go, but we've made an excellent start. In case you still want to donate, here's the link: www.globaloutreach.org/sams-kids
You can also mail a check or money order to: (Be sure to put Acct # 4852 in the subject line)

Sam's Kids

c/o Global Outreach 

PO Box 1

Tupelo MS 38802 

Thanks for your help!

#physicianassistedsuicide #euthanasia #prolife

The Changing of Our Culture: Physician-Assisted Suicide

My blog posts are generally written for Christians, but today, I'm writing for the atheist and the agnostic, as well as the Christian. 

I generally write to teach and encourage. Today, I'm writing to inform and warn. Be prepared to be shocked.

Yesterday, I received an email in my inbox with an intriguing title. "Good News About Dying in America." It was a commentary article from Medscape, a respected medical company. They provide medical education and medical news. I read their emails and continuing medical education materials fairly often. This is not a radical, edgy organization. This is medical mainstream.

"Changing a culture is one of the most difficult of human tasks," the article by Dr. George Lundberg began. That's true, but to begin by admitting a plan to change our culture is underway was very concerning to me.

"The American cultural norm, for many decades, even centuries, has been to sustain life and to prevent death for as long as possible." This is also a true statement. Humans are born with the certainty that they will also die. Every single one of us. Letting go of those we love is hard. I understand that. I've been at the bedside of dying people numerous times. 

Somewhere along the way, people began to ask physicians to "do all you can do", and we've done it. Whether it was sensible or not. We've prolonged death with pointless treatment when palliative care would have been more appropriate and more reasonable. The threat of lawsuits, combined with the need to avoid "failure" and an unwillingness to "give up" are only part of the problem. 

No one races to embrace grief. It's hard and long-lasting.

We don't like it, and we never want it, but dying and grief are a normal part of life. The problem is compounded when the process of dying includes pain and suffering. 

We want suffering to end, and we want it to end immediately. Especially if the suffering is our own, or that of someone we love. I understand that desire, but killing ourselves or someone we love to end the suffering should not be an option.

We need to understand that death happens, come to grips with our beliefs about life after death, and make decisions accordingly. We are all going to die, even those we love the most. 

Sometimes a plethora of medical devices and treatments are appropriate because the expectation of recovery is reasonable. Sometimes, they aren't.  

Dr. Lundberg's article continued by reminding the readers of two articles published in respected medical journals, both written by physicians who had assisted in the death of a patient's life. In 1988, a physician related assisting the death of a young woman with terminal cancer by giving IV morphine. (There was an uproar in the medical community about this.) In 1991, a physician admitted giving a terminal patient a prescription for medication that would end her life. That decade also saw the shocking notoriety of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who assisted dozens of patients with their deaths.

"The right message writ large but by a deeply flawed messenger," Dr. Lundberg wrote, and I knew for sure where his commentary was headed. His agenda is physician-assisted suicide.

It's already legal in several states, including Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont. Laws legalizing physician-assisted suicide will soon go into effect in California, as well. "Many more states will follow as we approach a tipping point."

He has judged the culture correctly. 

"At long last, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has approved payment for voluntary end-of-life counseling as part of its 2016 Medicare physician payment schedule. When you pay physicians to do something, they will do it."

Physicians have always given end-of-life counseling. "Your mother is dying. There's nothing more we can do." That's the beginning of an end-of-life counseling session that should be followed by an explanation of the futility of ongoing aggressive medical care and the appropriateness of hospice and palliative care. A discussion about the ways to alleviate suffering with appropriate medication and comfort measures should be included. I've had those discussions with patients and their families many times.

Never has my end-of-life counseling session included the option of physician-assisted-suicide. Never have I offered to assist patients in killing themselves. I, like other physicians of my era, took the Hippocratic oath. I vowed to "first, do no harm". 

Assisting a patient in killing themselves is not doing no harm.

Now, Medicare will pay physicians to discuss options about end-of-life issues. It's not a big jump to expect that, as laws legalizing physician-assisted-suicide spread across the country, Medicare will begin to pay for ending life, not just counseling.

I have long thought cultural change is needed, but killing people to hasten their death is not the answer. Palliative care (with comfort measures and adequate pain control) can, and does, make the process of dying much less difficult. 

A few months ago, I spent eleven days (and some of those eleven nights) at the bedside of a dying neighbor.  She was moved to Sanctuary Hospice House, where she lived for three days. They kept her clean, and turned, and comfortable. She was given medication to stop her cough and help her pain. They actively alleviated her suffering and, when she stepped out of this life and into the next, it was so quiet, her husband almost missed it. 

When her time came, she died.

Not once did she ask for help to hasten her death. Not once did we consider it.

Death is a part of living and the process of dying is not without benefit. It gives us time to grieve, to say our goodbyes. It gives our family members time to accept the inevitable. 

Some suffering cannot be avoided, but it doesn't have to be wasted. We can learn and change, even in the midst of suffering, and palliative care can help us.

Killing ourselves and those we love is not the answer. No matter how lovely the words used to describe physician-assisted-suicide, it's not an act of mercy. It's not "doing no harm". It's not the answer some might want it to be. 

My friend and colleague, Dr. Bill Toffler, lives and practices in Oregon. He has written an excellent article on this issue and I encourage you to read it. Click on the link to Killing Isn't Caring.
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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  The Same Jesus, The God Who Never Fails, Halfway to Canaan, The Blessing Jar, The Potential for Heritage, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 1, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 2, How to Live Longer, and Is Longer Life Worth the Cost of Obedience?
#physicianassistedsuicide #PAS #medicare #lifeisprecious #SanctuaryHospiceHouse