So Many Opinions, So Little Opportunity

[dogriver]

I want to offer so many personal opinions on so many topics which I feel
are important. But unfortunately, I feel stifled by my desire to keep
the peace. I see so many things written by others not afraid to speak
out, and I feel tethered and held back by my desire not to offend. There
is so much that should be said but won't be.

Comments

[maidenhell.livejournal.com]

I seek out your opinion on something...as I am confused over my own feelings.

I would peg myself as pro-choice. I've always felt that a woman should be able to make her own decisions when it comes to her body. When Henry Mortgentaler was recently awarded the Order of Canada, I saw nothing wrong with it. HOWEVER...a few weeks ago, there was a patient at one of the hospitals here in Winnipeg that was in a coma. Doctors resigned rather than care for him (he later died naturally, but not after local newspapers asked if keeping him alive was worth the $250,000+ in health care costs). I was appalled at this. I felt the man, even in a coma, deserved to be kept alive. I always feel in that situation it should be the family's decision. There was a similar case in the U.S. a few years ago where the insurance company fought to have life-support pulled.

So how can I support death in one area (for a life unborn) and not another (for a life that is being lived through the support of a machine)? No one knows what goes on in a coma (or what profound things happen in the womb), so how can we decide scientifcally that it amounts to nothing?

Perhaps this is too heavy for a Monday morning?! ha ha

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

I don't have an answer for you, not surprisingly, but I do have a story that might help in some odd way. I have always been pro-life. I have always felt that fundamentally, everyone should be given the right to exist, and I believe that abortion takes away that right, which I feel should be inaliable. But okay, we'll disagree on that point, even if our opinions are both very strong. I used also to be strongly pro capital punishment. Just a few years ago, I was thinking, and it occurred to me that these two stances opposed each other. I had to ask myself which of these values was more important to me. The answer, to me, was very, very clear, I could not, can not, and will never condone abortion, end of story. So my stance on capital punishment, after this realization, is that I very reluctantly oppose it.

There is a difference, though, with the hospital cases you cited. In both of those cases, the question was not about terminating the person's life, the question was about artificially prolonging it. My dad begged us not to artificially prolong his life at the end, but by the same token, he would never have done anything to prematurely end it. So there, I think, is where the difference lies. With both abortion and capital punishment, you are terminating a person's life. In the case of disconnecting life support, you are simply not artificially prolonging the life of the tissues. This may not be the right answer, but it's my answer as I see things at this point in time.

[maidenhell.livejournal.com]

Thank you...it has given me something to think about.

I can't reason why I feel so strongly about prolonging someone's life artificially. I would like to say, let nature take its course, but it is NOT natural. These people would die otherwise. Were the doctors right? I don't know. I'm really confused. It's hard to admit one does not have all the answers. ha ha.