Moral Dilemma-To kill or Not to kill.

Moral Dilemma: Your mother is gravely ill. The doctors have exhausted all the options; there is no hope; in the next month, she will die. Between now and then she will experience great pain, will lose control of her bowels and bladder, and will lose her powers of speech and memory. She will remain aware and awake during all of this. You have been caring for her, including administering injections of morphine to dull her pain. The day after a big dinner with the whole family, where everyone has told stories and said goodbye in their own ways, and where your mother has gotten her estate into order, she calls you into her room and asks you to inject her with several vials of morphine, enough to kill her quickly and painlessly. What should you do?

Problem: The problem is that you have a decision to make and you have to decide whether you could take your mother’s life. It is unclear whether you would face charges or if you could even live with yourself after it was done. It is not a single issue but multiple issue that you face both moral and lawful consequences.

Claim: Given the situation I would have to believe that she would pass in her own time when she is ready. I would not give her the morphine.

Reason: In comparing it to myself I would have to think about my own mother. If I were put in this situation I would think about putting her out of her misery but the pain it would cause to me later I don’t think I could deal with the memory of killing my own mother whether merciful or otherwise and the fear of facing a court because of what I had done is enough to stop any sane person.

Principle: The principle of it is debatable considering that there are laws that if a patient who is terminally ill wishes to take their own life a physician will write a prescription and it is up to the patient to take the medicine. The law bend for those who have done similar things surrounding family matters in cases where the person was terminally ill and in an immense amount of pain. Though I believe in free will I don’t think it fair to ask a family member to do it for you. If you wish to not continue living because of your terminal illness then I think it is up to the patient.