CLAIM:
Elderly people who are terminally ill have a duty to die and get out of the way. Like leaves which fall off a tree forming the humus in which other plants can grow, we’ve got a duty to die and get out of the way with all our machines and artificial hearts, so that our kids can build a reasonable life.

REBUTTAL:
Unlike the other claims made in favor of assisted suicide, this one stands out because of who said it and the point that was being made.

In March of 1984, Colorado Governor Richard Lamm spoke these words at a lawyers’ conference. Before then, interest in euthanasia had been building.

• 1938: Formation of the Euthanasia Society of America (ESA), which advocated for both voluntary and involuntary euthanasia.
• 1967: ESA’s educational arm developed a document called “Living Will” to promote discussion of euthanasia.
• 1967: As a member of the Colorado House of Representatives (1964-1974), Richard Lamm drafted the nation’s first liberalized abortion law.
• 1968: Paul Ehrlich’s “The Population Bomb” was published, tying environmental consequences to a growing population. Lamm was an early leader in the environmental movement as a Colorado politician.
• 1973: The Postma case made headlines around the world when Dutch physician Dr. Geertruida Postma was convicted of murder for assisting her terminally ill mother in dying after repeated requests. She received a suspended sentence. This case broke social taboos and initiated discussions on regulating euthanasia
• 1974: ESA renamed itself as the Right to Die Society.
• 1976: After a court battle, permission was received to remove Karen Ann Quinlan from ventilator support after falling into a coma and suffering brain damage because of mixing alcohol and drugs. Despite removing the ventilator, she continued to live with artificial tube feeding until she died in 1985.
• 1978: British journalist Derek Humphry immigrates to the United States after assisting his wife, Jean, in ending her life. He was never charged with a crime in Great Britain. He became a journalist with the Los Angeles Times and published “Jean’s Way” as an account of helping his first wife end her life.
• 1980: The Committee of Attorneys-General in the Netherlands took a special interest in physicians’ end-of-life decisions. To achieve uniformity in policy, they decided that every case of euthanasia should be scrutinized and that it should be decided whether the attending physician should be prosecuted.
• 1980: Humphry co-founded the Hemlock Society, an assisted suicide advocacy group in the United States.
• 1982: Hemlock published “Let Me Die Before I Wake” as a suicide manual.

Governor Lamm’s candid remarks sparked a heated dialog on the role of medical technology at the end of life and the tension between prolonging life and prolonging death. Six years later, in 1990, Jack Kevorkian assisted Janet Adkins in her suicide before she would be debilitated by Alzheimer’s. In 1991, Humphry released a second recipe book on how to kill yourself entitled “Final Exit.” Three years later, Oregon became the first state to legalize assisted suicide.

Lamm had momentum on his side. He also acknowledged a practical reality that the challenges of health care near the end of life are burdensome on others. It is a theme that has permeated the assisted suicide debate for decades.

When the Obama Administration successfully passed national health care reform, the ABC news show This Week discussed conservative objections that the reform would establish death panels that would send old people to “death panels” and would not save money. The implication was, of course, that ending lives earlier would save money.

Lamm’s words struck a chord with the simple logic that shortening lives saves money. When those lives consist of suffering and the technology to sustain them is so expensive, it is argued to be both logical and merciful to assist in ending those lives so the family can move on with their lives.

Richard Lamm did not appear to believe in God, sin, salvation, or eternal life. He considered the American Constitution his “religious scripture” and American patriotism his religion. He felt no allegiance to life’s Creator and felt no compulsion to ask, “What would God have me to do?”

If all you have to live for is life in this world, then to get the most out of life sometimes means people must get out of the way, and that often means dying. As an unplanned pregnancy crushes worldly plans and ending the life of the unborn child becomes an option, so also does sustaining the life of a loved one distract others from pursuing worldly goals, and ending the life of the loved one becomes an option.

Richard Lamm’s words reflect the godless view of human existence. Even in Humphry’s suicide book, “Final Exit,” he wrote: “If you consider God the master of your fate, then read no further. Seek the best pain management available and arrange hospice care.” Humphry’s godless perspective on life recognized that any allegiance to a higher authority leaves one with no choice but to care for life and not terminate it.

A Christian’s perspective on this can be summarized as follows:

• Life has a Creator, and God demands dominion over life and death (Deuteronomy 32:39; Psalm 31:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
• Christians are called upon to care for others by meeting their needs and alleviating their suffering (Matthew 25:35-40; Luke 3:10-11; 10:25-37; James 5:14-15).
• Placing concern for money and holding a greater concern for yourself ahead of the needs of others does not please God (Proverbs 11:24-25; Luke 12:15; Philippians 2:3-4).

Lamm’s appeal to logic reflects a godless perspective on life. While there is no mandate to prolong dying, our motive is never to get people out of the way by our actions. To do so suggests a rejection of God’s authority over life and his sacrifice of Jesus Christ to give us an eternity in heaven.