It must have been a harrowing choice
when Zhang Jianbo jumped out of the five-story window of Shuguang
Hospital in Changsha, Hunan
Province, on October 20, and ended his life.
He had been suffering from late-stage throat cancer, and had
pleaded with doctors for assisted suicide but to no avail. So he
took matters into his own hands.
Zhang is not alone. There are many patients who are going through
intense physical pain caused by incurable diseases and pray for a
dignified end to their lives. Yet hospitals find themselves in a
legal vacuum when it comes to euthanasia.
"Our job is to save lives, and we don't have the right to mercy
killing," said an official at the Changsha hospital.
The right-to-die debate has been brewing in China for some years.
Many people argue that it is a rational choice for human dignity
when a patient is terminally ill and the pain afflicting him is
unbearably agonizing. It should be the patient's right to make such
an end-of-life decision. Denying him this right is inhumane as it
prolongs the suffering, exacerbates the situation for the family
and results in a waste of medical resources, they contend.
Opponents counter that it is against human nature to prescribe
assistance to suicide. When patients are fighting for their lives,
they need encouragement. Besides, a patient is not in the best
position to make this decision when he is engulfed by excruciating
pain.
More importantly, euthanasia is prone to abuse, they assert. Given
China's current underdevelopment in medical care, there is no
safety net for poor patients. Medical staff is not well trained to
make such a judgment, technically or morally. And the law regarding
this issue is murky or nonexistent.
For all the concerns, a consensus is emerging among the general
public. A survey by Beijing Youth Daily found that over 80
percent of respondents regard euthanasia as an act of mercy rather
than cruelty. A Health News survey concluded 85 percent favor
legalizing it.
Yet obstacles remain on the way to legalization. It is reflected in
one special case that goes back 17 years.
In 1986, Wang Mingcheng implored with Dr Pu Liansheng to help end
the life of his critically-ill mother; and the doctor obliged. Both
were later charged with murder but were acquitted after spending
492 days in detention. Seventeen years later, the 49-year-old Wang
came down with cancer. His application for euthanasia to the
hospital was denied. Unlike his mother, he did not die peacefully.
It was a losing battle for him, both literally and
figuratively.
Media reports reveal that many doctors, out of sympathy, still
assist suicides. But, to avoid a legal quagmire, they shy away from
leaving any documents and prefer to operate in the gray area
instead.
Some experts are gunning for a compromise. Zhu Tiezhi, a media
commentator, suggests the right-to-die prerequisites: the applicant
must have a terminal illness that causes agonizing pain, and the
diagnosis must be verified by at least two doctors; the applicant
must be in a clear state of mind when he applies for it, and the
application process should be repeated at least twice to make sure
it is not a spur-of-the-moment thought.
If this sounds too complicated, some are suggesting
decriminalization as a first step. The courts should be lenient
when it comes to these cases, they argue. In a country where the
aphorism "To save a life is like building a seven-story Buddhist
tower" is deep-rooted, the right to die will always be an ethical
dilemma.
(China Daily October 27,2003)