You movie buffs out there have probably heard of the French film Amour, the winner of the Best Film at the 2012 Cannes film festival. Amour centers on the lives of two 80-year-old retired music teachers, George and Anne. Their world is shaken when Anne suffers a stroke. After a second stroke, partial paralysis, and dementia, Anne wants to end her life. George resists at first, but—spoiler alert!—eventually kills her as a presumed display of their lifelong devotion and love.[1]
In Europe, euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This movie is intended to provoke discussion and debate, especially in its native France where euthanasia is a hotly debated political issue. France's new president Francois Hollande publically favors permitting euthanasia. Supporters believe that if France legalizes euthanasia, it is only a matter of time before the rest of Europe follows suit.[2]
Euthanasia is not the same thing as physician-assisted suicide, which is legal in Oregon, Washington, and Montana. "Euthanasia" means to intentionally end the life of another person, allegedly to end their suffering, and whether or not they request it. If they do, it's called "voluntary euthanasia," and if they don't, it's "non-voluntary eu- thanasia." In the Netherlands, doctors have legally ended the lives of disabled newborns, without parental consent. But spouses or adult children are more often the perpetrators of euthanasia.
Physician-assisted suicide, on the other hand, is by patient request. The doctor writes a prescription for a lethal drug that the patient takes at a time they decide.
You have probably heard the argument that euthanasia is a compassionate means to end suffering, that it's "mercy killing." This packs a rhetorical punch, but overlooks the fact that there are remedies for this kind of suffer- ing. Advances in palliative care can relieve pain, anxiety, and depression. When these are under control, the sick person's wish for death diminishes.[3] Palliative care is a much better option than "mercy killing." Despite claims to the contrary, euthanasia is simply not medically necessary.
Sadly, many patients want to die because they think they are a burden, a feeling shared by over 50% of patients who chose physician-assisted suicide in Washington State last year.[4] But when someone commits "mercy killing," it could be because they do think the patient is a burden, or that it's too hard to watch their loved one suffer.
When George takes Anne's life at the end of Amour, we are meant to think his act of euthanasia is a valid expression of the couple's love and devotion to each other. Genuine love is far deeper than a movie portrayal. God is the giver of life; it is He who gives and takes it away at His own discretion. In the Christian story, we are to carry each other's burden's. This kind of love may mean laying down my life for someone else's.
Now that is the kind of love story that should win a prize.
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1 Richard Porton, "Michael Haneke Film 'Amour' Explores Euthanasia and the Purity of Love,"The Daily Beast, May 23, 2012, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/23/michael-haneke-film-amour-explores-euthanasia-and-the-purity-of-love.html (accessed June 18, 2012).
2 Emma Thomasson, "Right-to-Die Movement Sees Gains as World Ages," Reuters, June 12, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/12/us-swiss-assistedsuicide-idUSBRE85B1ES20120612 (accessed June 18, 2012).
3 National Cancer Institute, "Evaluation and Treatment of Suicidal Patients with Cancer," August 19, 2011, http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/depression/Patient/page5 (accessed June 22, 2012).
4 Washington State Department of Health, 2011 Death with Dignity Act Report, available at http://www.doh.wa.gov/DataandStatisticalReports/VitalStatisticsData/DeathWithDignityActFormsReceived.aspx (accessed June 22, 2012).