'I want to sleep forever' Chile government rejects 14-year-old's euthanasia plea

[Judi Lynn]

'I want to sleep forever' Chile government rejects 14-year-old's euthanasia plea
6:52 PM Friday Feb 27, 2015

Chile's government on Thursday rejected an ailing 14-year-old girl's plea on social media to let her "sleep forever."

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Valentina Maureira posted a YouTube video shot from what appeared to be a hospital bed asking President Michelle Bachelet to allow her to be euthanised. It quickly circulated widely on social media.

"I urgently request to speak to the president because I'm tired of living with this illness," said the teenager, whose older brother died at age 6 from the same disease. "I want her approval so I can get a shot that will make me sleep forever."

Presidential spokesman Alvaro Elizalde said Thursday that although "it's impossible not to be overcome by emotion with the girl's request, it's impossible to grant her wish", because it's not allowed under Chilean law.

More:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11409172&ref=rss

[forest444]

1. Of course, the same people that whine about the "evils" of euthanasia

are often the first ones to reach for it themselves, or for a loved one in terminal pain.

In Latin America - like in the U.S. - this issue is closely linked to abortion rights, contraception, and more broadly, civil rights of all kinds. And the church usually owns the battle horse (the Christian Right here; the Opus Dei there).

Many of us, I'm sure, have known our share of hypocrites. The kind that -when they let their guard down- will admit a glaringly obvious truth: that people who are in favor of laws that condemn others to needless misery are miserable people themselves, and that cheap envy and schadenfreude usually lurks behind their moralistic protestations.

Those of us who grew up in the Deep South have heard it all:

An unwanted -even forced- pregnancy? You bet she's stuck with that! ("she screwed, she's screwed&quot

She's poor and had a kid? What welfare?! Let her work for a living! (even when they personally know the woman has one or more awful jobs at minimum wage)

That black kid wants to go to college? Over my dead body! (then, of course, they refer to black people as "useless&quot

The old lady down the street "passed away in peace, surrounded by family"? I bet she asked them to euthanize her, the coward she was! (trust me, they've had "the talk" with their family doctor)

Naturally, they don't expect to put up with the same thing should the need arise. And that reminds me of another unmutable truth: that people who feel they're above these petty laws tend to support -and make- harsh laws.

If folks would just live and let live.

[Judi Lynn]

2. It IS odd they must have the last word in what happens in their lives & in the lives of others, too.

It's their belief that suffering must continue, only in the lives of others, of course. Other people shouldn't be allowed to escape all the pain destiny can possibly bring them.

That doesn't make a bit of sense, not in the least. Cannot understand why they won't make room for help for others in their own minds, hearts, and more importantly, in our laws.

[forest444]

3. Hear, hear.