–– Paul Schlehlein

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Should doctors or family members be allowed to help a person die if they have a painful or terminal illness? Some first-world countries would answer yes, as euthanasia is legal in a handful of nations like the Netherlands, Portugal, Australia, Ecuador, and Spain. In 2024, eight South African doctors published their opinions in a national medical journal in hopes of persuading the nation’s High Court to legalize euthanasia. Should more societies follow suit? 

Euthanasia, sometimes called mercy killing, derives from two Greek words meaning “good death”. It is the process of intentionally ending life to end the process of suffering. It is essentially killing someone for their own good, either to alleviate their suffering or to end a low quality of life. 

Many mistakenly associate euthanasia with only the elderly but the issue is not age but agony. It’s meant to end pain, no matter the age. Euthanasia is not legal in any African countries but is still practised in a host of ways. Adult children, for example, may stop giving food to granny when she refuses to go to the hospital and no longer desires life. Parents may throw their deformed babies in the river or leave them in the forest. Twins that are thought to have evil spirits are killed.

Common Arguments for Euthanasia

Advocates of euthanasia employ a number of arguments. 

First is the “quality of life” argument. It maintains that our duty is to alleviate the pain and frustration of living. But while it may often be right to alleviate pain, it is never our duty to take away life. As we shall see, letting die is not the same as euthanasia. 

Second is the “freedom of choice” argument. This asks: “Isn’t this a free country? Shouldn’t we protect human freedom, even to end one’s own life?” We must remember that it’s not unusual for people, even Christians as is seen in the life of Job, to want to die from time to time (Job 3:20-21). But this doesn’t give us the right to end their life. Humans are emotional people. Suppose they want to die one day but not the next?

Joni Eareckson Tada was paralysed in a swimming accident as a teenager. In those early dark days, she wanted to die. Today she’s a prolific author and a gift to the church. When looking back she says she’s glad there were no right-to-die laws in those days. 

Third is the “financial burden” argument. This asks why an individual or family member should go into debt for someone who doesn’t want to live or is unconscious and will not get better. But the Christian position is not that life should be preserved at all costs, as it takes into account medicines that are either too difficult to obtain or too expensive to continue. 

There’s a difference between “letting die” and “causing to die”, which is killing. In killing, the cause of death is the action of the other person. In letting die, the cause of death is the disease or injury. There’s also a difference between heroic and ordinary means. Heroic means include aggressive techniques to preserve the person’s quality of life. Ordinary means refer to offering help that is reasonable, but not overly burdensome.

Biblical Principles

Consider the following biblical principles in caring for the sick or dying. 

First, uphold human life as precious and a gift from God (Job 1:21). People argue: “We shoot a dog that is in great pain, why should we not do the same for a human?” The answer is that dogs are not made in the image of God. Since humans are made in God’s image (Gen. 2:24), Scripture forbids murder (Ex. 20:13; Prov. 6:17; Matt. 18:19; Rom. 13:9), which is the intentional or careless taking of an innocent human life. Possible exceptions would be war and self-defence.

King David killed the man who claimed he helped assist King Saul in suicide (2 Sam. 1:1-16), even though Saul asked for it, was terminally ill, and in pain. Jesus condemned the priest and Levite who failed to help a badly injured man who was able to recover with care (Luke 10:30-37).

Second, emphasise ordinary care for the suffering. A good principle, per theologian John Frame, is “that when a patient is dying we should continue ordinary care (nutrition, water, protection against infection), but discontinue extraordinary or heroic care. That is, we should never murder anyone, but neither should we prolong the process of dying” (pp. 735-36).

We should not help a person die when there is reasonable hope of recovery and we are able to help them. This is what it means to love our neighbour. It is valid and wise to use modern medicine to alleviate the pain and suffering of a terminally ill patient (Matt. 7:12 and 22:39).

On the other hand, in cases where there is no reasonable human hope of recovery and it is the patient’s wish to withdraw all methods of preserving life, then it may be right to allow the person to die. 

Finally, look to the life to come. Even though death is in some ways our enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), it is also part of living in a fallen world (Heb. 9:27). Paul expressed a desire to leave this world, saying, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). He also said “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting” (1Cor. 15:55). All of us should have as our goal to speak as Stephen did, when facing death, saying: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Ac. 7:59).