The right to die

What should we do With someone who is very sick or hurt and can't'get'belter? This is a difficult problem, and it is not easy for anyone to decide. Imagine a problem such as this: Suppose yqur father has a car accident. He is hurt badly arid is unconscious; that is, -he- can't think; speak, or hear. You take him to the hos.-pital. The: doctors tellyou that his brain is dead, < but they can help him breathe with a machine. The doctors tell you that your father will never wake up-again. .

Now you'must answer some big questions. Do you think he is dead? Do ypu want the doctors to use the machine to make your father breathe? .

Sometimes machines can make an unconscious person breathe for years. If his brain is dead, however, he will never think, speak, or hear again. Do you want the doctors not to use the machine and let your father die?

Someone who is unconscious can't say he or she wants to die. Can his or her family make the decision? Some people think this is a good idea. Some think it is a bad idea. We will interview two people so we can hear both sides-of this question. Read both opinions and then decide for yourself. What do you think?

First, we will talk to Doctor Benjamin Burns, who works in a big city hospital.

Interviewer: Dr. Burns, what should doctors do when a person's brain is hurt very badly?

Doctor Bums: When someone's brain is dead, doctors should let him die. When this person is unconscious, the family can decide for him.

Interviewer: What are your, reasons?

Doctor Burns: Hospitals are very expensive. A family shouldn't spend all of its money to keep someone on machines. Doctors, hospitals, and machines should help the people who can get better. They shouldn't waste time on people who will never wake up again.

Interviewer: What about the family close to the dying person?

Doctor Bums: Many people are hurt when machines keep a person alive. If the unconscious person doesn't feel pain, the family and friends do. Machines only make the family and friends hurt longer. The sick person will finally die anyway.

Next, we will talk to Ms. Pam Roland. Her brother nearly died in a traffic accident nine years ago. The doctors thought that he was dead. Today he is alive and has a job and family.

Interviewer: What do you think about this problem? Can any person decide when someone should die?

Pam Roland: No person can decide when someone should die. Doctors should help a sick or hurt person. A doctor shouldn't let

a person die.

Interviewer: Why do you say that?

Pam Ronald: Someone may say a person can never get well again. Doctors can be wrong. Anything is possible. Anything can happen. Doctors might team something to help this person in the future. If we let him die, we will never know.

Interviewer Doctors have a difficult problem. What should

they do in this situation?

Pam Roland: Hospitals and doctors have a job to do. Their job is to save lives and to fight death. A doctor who lets someone, die is not doing his job.

Assignment:

Express your opinion on the problem, give your reasons.