Right to Life Issues

PLAW 235

Spring 2012

The right to die is an issue ongoing in the legal system. This right is granted by God, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. The right to die, even in a society that encourages every individual to believe in the fallacy of state granted rights, can only be viewed through the instruction of the Creator who granted the right. The dilemma of the right to die has come into question as medical technology has improved. It is a double edged sword that “once upon a time, the question of whether a person had the right to die was a foregone conclusion…when medical science improved to the point of being able to prolong the process of dying through machinery, medications, and complicated surgeries, the right to die and management of the dying became a greater issue.” Suzan D. Herskowitz, Wills, Trusts, and Estates Administration 107 (2011). The advances in medical technology are themselves a gift from God bestowed along with the knowledge of how to apply them to physicians.

The responsibility then of the Christian estate planner is to be informed of the issues of the legal system, and to apply the biblical principles as they relate to living wills and other end of life issues. The Christian planner carries the burden to inform the Christian client of what the Lord has instructed. He clearly gives counsel in the Old Testament, “ No man has authority to restrain the wind, or authority over the day of death” Ecclesiastes 8:8. He also makes it abundantly clear, as written by Moses, ”See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life” Deuteronomy 32:39. This is the responsibility of the planner to his or her client. “The care of the dying is an aspect of medicine that tests a doctor’s skill, understanding and compassion more than any. There would be no demand…if the medical profession treated the dying as they should. The new Voluntary...