http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/hsn/20011017/hl/the_manly_art_of_mercy_killing_1.html
Wednesday October 17 01:13 PM EDT
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthScoutNews)
-- Mercy killing is portrayed by euthanasia advocates as one person's desperate
bid to end a loved one's suffering.
But new research has found two-thirds
of those whose lives are ended that way are women, and the researcher says
that raises a troubling question: Are women's lives worth less than men's
when it comes to long-term care?
"In the United States, euthanasia
tends to be presented as an issue of self-determination, autonomy, choice,"
said Silvia Sara Canetto, lead author of the study and an associate professor
of psychology at Colorado State University. "But when you actually look
at what happens, you have a person who is very ill, dependent on others
for care, vulnerable and exhausted. If you perceive yourself as a burden,
or others perceive you as being a burden, you could be seen as a good candidate
for death."
As a result of her research, Canetto
said she believed mercy killing and the further legalization of physician-assisted
suicide are dangerous, particularly to older women.
"Many women do not have the resources,
the sense of entitlement or the power and freedom to make the choice they
desire, especially when they are sick and disabled," Canetto said. "And
the freedom to be dead is a very peculiar freedom."
Faye Grish, the president of The
Hemlock Society, an organization that advocates legalizing physician-assisted
suicide, disagreed with Canetto's conclusions, adding that the assumption
that women can't say what they mean is absurd.
"To say women can't make this decision
because they are somehow more vulnerable is insulting," Girsh added.
For her study, which appears in the
most recent issue of Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, Canetto reviewed
records of 112 mercy killings from 1960 to 1993 kept by The Hemlock Society.
The organization defines mercy killing
as "the killing of a terminally or incurably ill person to put him or her
out of perceived misery" without necessarily knowing "the intent of the
suffering person." Its records include news reports and direct reports
of mercy killings.
Canetto found that most mercy killings
involved both sexes -- a woman and a man -- as opposed to two men or two
women. Typically, a child killed a parent, or one spouse killed the other.
But in 70 percent of cases, the man
did the mercy killing, she said.
"Men are more likely to kill themselves
through suicide, kill others through homicide, and more likely to do what
they consider mercy killing," Canetto noted.
About 92 percent of those who died
were ill, Canetto added. And of those who were ill, about 35 percent were
reportedly terminal, 15 percent were not, and the nature of the illness
was unknown for the rest. People were most often killed with guns, followed
by suffocation and poisoning.
The Hemlock Society contends that
the real solution to stemming mercy killing is not to ban euthanasia, but
to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
By bringing the discussion out in
the open, families would not feel desperate and alone and resort to shooting
a sick family member, Girsh said. Instead, the sick person and the caregiver
could seek help and support from the medical community.
Girsh added that there is no clear
gender difference in Oregon, which since 1997 has been the only state to
permit physician-assisted suicide.
"The conclusion that the authors
make is mistaken," she said. "If there were more legal options for people
to have help in dying from a physician, it would reduce mercy killing,
reduce the anguish in families and caregivers who have to watch the suffering
and not know what to do."
In 85 percent of the cases, no one
knows if the person asked to be killed. But even a request to die doesn't
necessarily justify taking a life, Canetto argued. People may say they
want to die because they are depressed and exhausted from an illness and
are seeking comfort.
"When someone says, 'I can't stand
it. I want to die,' there are many different levels to that," Canetto said.
"What they may want is reassurance. They might be saying, 'Even though
I can no longer walk, even though I am incontinent, I am still of value
to you'."
Previous research has shown physical
suffering is not the primary predictor of suicidal thoughts, Canetto added.
Such psychological factors as depression, loneliness and the perception
of being a burden weigh more heavily.
What To Do
If you are a caregiver and feeling
overwhelmed, there are numerous resources available to help you. Look for
local support groups at the National
Self-Help Clearinghouse or for hospice programs at the National
Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
For more information about end-of-life
issues, such as writing living wills and making medical decisions, check
out the Partnership
for Caring or The Hemlock
Society.
Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc.
By Jennifer Thomas
HealthScoutNews Reporter