Evening star., 1916-01-08
THE REYALUATION OF
HUMAN LIFE.
By Frederic J. Ea:kin.

The death in Chicago of baby that
might have been saved and several
similar cases have brought vividly be-
fore the American people the question
OF whether life is always worth saw
ing, either to the individual or to
society There has been much conten-
tion and criticism. but through it all
has run surpris:rGly strong opinion
that liz, is not invariably sacred.
Once human life was valued much
less than now. There was capita
Punishment eor trifes. Death Was
looked upon with q great Geal more
eauanin,ity. possibly because II was
SO much harder to avert.
Modern physicians set 4 hiEh value
upon human life and provided the
means prolonGing it. Now = ;sood may
thinking men and women are ask nG
whether there is anv iustjhcatol 10
urolongirs life that can give no
p.,asure to its poSsesS1r. ana IS JUS
htely useless. IL not dangerous 40 'iS
The viewpoint OF the individual whc
feels that he is no longer nj 10 ~
was brought out strongly by rerent
ca in this country \ woman OF P@i
feet sanity and excellent intetiige' c.
apnlicd to the court for a permit 10 ea''
he. own lie. Physicians had totd t!er
that she had no nope o. 'tSpN''iH' - ~
might suffer foc months or cN
wears. She was poor ana would hecor
q public charge. Under The SO circ'h'
stances she asked roT - ruiinf WI -
wouId r.ermft her 20 e"d her liz" tn
OF. committing n cine and n'ac!"g
stigma upon her children. The JudSe
was. OF course. as ooW"r' $ 20 "t''
he,. IS had bee" the H1ysi"j4"f.
\ hill that would amply to S"ch cases
was introduced rot long ago IN ne
Indiana state Ie-isl" tu~e. II GToNiGvd
that when accident or disease iidd con
dernned an individual 70 ne oi co1
tinual suffering he might be given t!c
means of terminating his own 'iie
upoa his own request and bN fhc
agreement Of seven reputAple i'hNsi-
clans. This bill was dr2fted oy taN-
men without medical assistance. Fhy-
sicians would p~obabiy hav" pro ested
vigorously. as the reaponsib'ii'% WIS
to oe pjaccd upon their. l'cSrit" 'on-
sidera BILE interest in its PROVISIONS the
bill was lost in committee.
Several other state neasGrcs OF the j..
same sort have been draften. put none
of them h,;s
poe,a1e of law ever been ell
l-ot Yet Achieved. II is nrobabIv
safe TO say that most physicians would
vigorously oppose any law upon this
subject. Ever one of them encoun-
te~s cases where prolonged life will
mean nothing but suffering. and where
the 9ower to ,rolong or terminate this
misery is in his hands. In such cases
phys;cians are known TO act upon their
ovo best judgment, but few OF them
would desire legal obligation to GO
SO. IN officer of the American Meolcai
Association probably voiced the feeling
Of most of his cole CUES recently
when he explained his own attitude
toward the matter:
You may favor capital punishment.
he said. "and believe that eerta n
man ought to be hung. bdt you would
not like to let the drop fail or even
witness the hanging.
To take human life under any CIR
cumstances is tremendous resrorsl-
bility and undoubtedly the greatest DIFF
fculty in the revaiuation of life is TO
find men both willing and fit to ac-
cent such a responsibility.
There are cases in which physicians
have provided friend with the means
of ending a life o. suffering and have
afterward been compelled By remorse
to confide the fact in some one Even
though a life is apparently useless,
there are few men of genuine human
ity who are willing to sit in judgment
upon il. The rule in this matter TO
which all physicians are supposed to
subscribe is the Hippocratic cath. IT
has been the guiding rule OF the pro-
fesSion for more than 2 600 years, and
IL binds the physician to prolong life
and to reduce suffering by every pos
sible mems. No doubt there are many
conservative physicians who interpret
this rule literally. But there are times
when prolonged life means suffering.
and suffering can he luitigated only
by death. Then the Hippocratic law
becomes dilemma rather than a rule.
::
One reason why human life demands
q revaluation is because the means of
prolonging il
Imnroyed Means have been so
of Frclonging Life. veloped CON.
slider the question Of industrial acci-
dents. for example. Injured men who
would have died upon the spot few
decades ago are now dexterously
patched up and enabled to lead
MANNED and crippled existence. There
can be no doubt but what death would
often be preferable to these men who
work with their hands and to whom
physical strength is everything.
But death is invariably fought by
every expedient in these cases. The
physician is usually employed by the
company. and his first duty is TO re-
dJce the number of fatalities occurring
in its plant Ey saving his patient. the
phS Ssician may also save his empioyeT