There is probably no better window into the human heart than suffering. But to witness the affliction of others is always an invitation to exercise true compassion, not the misguided mercy of advocates of euthanasia. Compassion is simply the sincere effort to meet the many and varied needs of the sick until the moment of natural death. To do this is to assert, in a tangible and effective way, the dignity of the human person. The experience of physical pain, the limitations imposed by a disability or an incurable illness, the very personal world of moral anguish are all invitations to seek a good that may be found only over and above our selves.
Assisted suicide kills a human being, but there is another victim.
Our humanity, the capacity to suffer with the most vulnerable members of our society, dies as well.