I know I don't often post on Tuesday mornings--I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me, because I had a bit of a rough night and am home from work this morning. I think I'll probably go in a little later.
Anyway, I talked to my aunt last night. She said that when my grandma fell and broke her hip, the entire hip socket basically shattered. The doctors say there are two options: one, they can do hip replacement surgery on an 86 year-old Alzheimer's patient who has been borderline vegetative for the last two years. Two, they can put her in a morphine coma so that she doesn't feel any pain. She also doesn't feel any need to eat or drink, and after a few days her systems start to fail and she dies. Because my grandmother left a living will, power of attorney and all kinds of consent forms, this last option is the one that is going to happen. No one in the family has a problem with that at all because it really is time for this to be over.
My question is this: why does Dr. Kevorkian take the heat for assisting his patients to commit suicide? Is this in any way, shape or form morally different?