Page 68 - PowerE-L05-C

Lesson 17

The right to die

Do we have the right to let a terminally ill patient die?
Consider this case: the patient is semi-comatose, lying

on a hospital bed with multi-colored IV needles attached

to his veins. He looks like an alien from a low budget
science fiction movie, with all those machines he is hooked

into. Only it’s no laughing matter. The patient is breathing
spasmodically, obviously in great pain, half-conscious he may be. The EKG reads

an ever weakening line; the patient is near death. However, from the way his hands
would clench, this man is fighting for his dear life. The doctors said he has only a

few more months to live that seems to last centuries. To a man in pain, time drags.
Around the bed are the loving relatives, dark halos around their eyes. An ocean of

tears shed, only a cold emptiness remains. With each struggle of the man on the bed,
a cry of pity would escape their lips. “Should we pull the plug and end his suffering?”

this question hangs on their heads like storm clouds over a boat on the sea. But a

small ray of hope would pierce through, “Miracles do happen. All is not lost until it’s
lost.” Euthanasia is sometimes defined as mercy killing. To spare a hopeless person

from needless pain, the plug is pulled, the life-sustaining machines stop humming,
and the man on the bed lies still. He’s peacefully passed away without any pain at

last. Did we just do a horrible murder? Or did we grant a much needed rest?

Comprehension

1. How does the writer describe the ill patient?
2. Why is euthanasia defined as mercy killing?

Questions

1. Do you think people have the right to die?
2. What do you think of euthanasia?
3. Is euthanasia legal in your country?
4. Do you think that euthanasia should be prohibited? Why do you think so?

Vocabulary & Expressions
terminal : a terminal illness cannot be cured and causes death (adv. terminally)
spasmodic : happening for short irregular periods, not continuously (adv. spasmodically)
EKG : an electrocardiogram
clench : to hold your hands, teeth, etc. together tightly, usually because you feel angry or determined
euthanasia : the painless killing of people who are very ill or very old in order to stop them suffering

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