WHAT VALUE LIFE?
The issue of assisted suicide has been very prominent in the News over the last few weeks. The case of Kay Gilderdale, who admitted helping her daughter to die but was found not guilty of any crime, highlighted the current thinking about this issue.
Then there was the report which showed that the number of people suffering with Dementia was greater than had been estimated to date. This led to Baroness Warnock stating we should introduce Euthanasia for people with advanced Dementia who have a poor quality of life. She considered that they were just a burden on their families and a drain on society’s resources. They could contribute nothing and took too much - what they may have contributed in the past apparently doesn’t count.
On this same theme Terry Pratchett, best-selling author and Dementia sufferer, also advocated that people with conditions like his should have the right to go to a Tribunal to ask for the right to have their life ended. As he put it, “it’s my death, my life, my choice”.
So we have calls for Assisted Suicide to be legalised, Euthanasia to be introduced for certain groups with unacceptable quality of life, and tribunals for assisted dying. Then against that we have heard arguments from those who provide superb Palliative Care and the Hospice movement. But the Church has been pretty silent. So what is the real issue?
The issue is not primarily about quality of life. That is so difficult to define and determine. There was research published this week that showed that some people in a so-called ‘vegetative state’ are actually mentally active, and it is possible to communicate with them. People with advanced Dementia are known suddenly to show great awareness and to respond to certain triggers and outside stimuli. So what is quality of life? It seems to me it is more often the negative view and assessment of someone else and not the sufferer at all.
The issue is about the value of life. What constitutes the dignity of life? In our materialistic culture life is valued according to what you do. Life is valuable because you are useful and able to contribute. Is the person happy and can they communicate that happiness? Can they enjoy relationships with others? Is there some intellectual capacity that enables them to experience good emotions and sensations? Life is valuable in other words as long as there is function and capacity that meet some general criteria laid down by society.
The Bible has a totally different way of understanding this issue. Life is valuable because it is the gift of God. He imparts life at conception and He determines the end at death. Human life is valuable because we are all made in the image of God. It is not that we bear the image of God. We are in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). The intrinsic nature of our being is that we reflect the image of the Divine. That is why murder is so serious - it is to take the life of a person in God’s image (Genesis 9:6). That is why it is so wicked to slander a fellow human being - he is in the image of God (James 3:9).
It is this ‘being in the image of God’ that distinguishes man from the animals. We are made of the same substance as the animals - dirt (Genesis 3:19 & 2:19), but we are distinct from them in that God made us with His hands, breathed life into us and put His image upon us (Genesis 2:7). Man was intended to represent God in this world (Genesis 1:28). The image then expresses itself in the unique abilities of man (e.g. intelligence and imagination - Genesis 2:19-20).
The Bible’s argument is very clear. Man is made in the image of God and his life, which God has given him, is precious. It is not for any other person to take that life. Nor is it the right of the man himself to take his own life. Having said that we must recognise that there are aspects of suffering and decline which may mean that we will not always seek to preserve life at all costs but may let death take its course. However here is the essential dignity and value of life, and that applies whether a person has capacity or no, whether they can fulfil a useful function or no, whether they can sustain relationships or no. Human beings made in God’s image are intrinsically valuable and their life is precious.