Evening star., 1950-03-18
Both Justice, Mercy
Seen in Jury Verdict
Freeing DR.. Sander
Writer Discerns Puttern
Of Dream Structure in
Deuth of Mrs. Borroto
By Dorothy Thompson

of a community testified that he
brought to patients something be-
yond scientific knowledge-that
capacity so to feel for others that
he took upon himself some part
of their suffering. easing these by
his very presence, as he fought to
restore the ailing to life. In the
experience of the community,
therefore, he was a man who
could do no evil to any one under
his care.
Yet he stood accused of what
the law regards as the worst sin
the taking of human life. The
life. to be sure, was already for
felt. No creature diseased as Mrs.
Borroto was could live. No con-
ceivable laSt-minute discovery in
medicine or surgery could restore
a body all of whose essential Or
gans except the heart were eaten
away. Only the veins could still
absorb that minimum of nourish-
ment to keep the heart feebly
beating for a few moments, hours,
or days.
Such, according to the prosecu-
ton, was what remained of Mrs.
Borroto when DR.. Sander entered
with his syringe. Even were the
charge against him true, he would
not have killed Mrs. Borroto in
any conventional sense. He would
merely have quickened. and per-
haps quieted. what was immi-
nently due. He had but two con-
ceivable motives. Mercy, and/or
to make a test case Of the legality
Of euthanasia.
Conscious Motive?
Was that, after all, a conscious
motive? The strange appearance
on the scene, following the trial,
Of Mrs. F. Robertson Jones, execu-
tive vice president of the Eutha-
nasia Society Of America, protest
ing that DR.. Sander "ducked the
ISSUE" revives the issue. For Mrs.
Jones insists, as though she had
privy knowledge, that it was a
mercy killing, and that no jury
would have found him guilty had
he confessed
Let us tread softly here. 1t was
precisely this case that DR.. Sander
could not make in his defense.
For the. law, as it presently en-
bodies the moral conscience of
this Nation, recognizes but one
justifiable homicide-self- defense
when ones own life is threatened.
In the law, respect for human life
Is held above mercy for human
suffering. Whatever the feelings
of the members of the jury, they
would have been compelled, if
they followed the instructions of
any judge, to uphold that law and
find the defendant guilty of some
, degree of homicide.
. Yet mercy revolted against
Furnishing mercy as a crime.
though the law and the highest
moral sense could not condone
one form of it. There were nine
Catholics on the jury, whose views
on euthanasia are categorical.
How, therefore, to solve this
dilemma of justice and mercy
the desire of the community for
compassion, and the desire to
uphold the law?
Dream Structure Pattern.
One can discern in this case
the pattern of dream structures.
In dreams one entertains desires
the conscience forbids; even in
dreams the moral sense operates
obscurely to turn acts into SYM
bols of the acts. The attorneys of
DR.. Sander argued that when he
pressed the syringe, he was blotted
out, was actually, through sleep
1essness, In an half f-dream state
thus performing, at it were, an
act that might often have been
a secret wish, suppressed when
fully conscious. And it is quite
credible that this was so-that the
act was only the symbol of an
unconscious desire. upon a patient
who did not exist, because the
doctor knew she was dead. There
fore, there was neither killer nor
killed
But though there was no sinner
there was still the sin-even II
1t were the stuff of dreams-the
dream sin of unlawful mercy
And In this dream sin, court
and jury were involved. And
the sin was not condoned
For had there been a killer and
had there been a killed. by every
argument Of both prosecution and
defense. DR.. Sander would have
been found guilty. Thus, the
commandment still stands: "Thou
shalt not KILL" warning even the
merciful of law above mercy.
But the mercy no physician may
bring to the dying. by taking q
life, was shown to the living man
The jury accepted the act as 9
dream, and upheld the loving
promise: Blessed are the merci-
full. for they shall obtain mercy.
But if the Euthanasia Society
Is cherishing the dream wish o1
Turing merciful physicians tt
challenge the law. it had better
wake up and realize that tht
dream put into practice would b,
q conspiracy making the Eutha.
nasia Society accessory to |
crime.
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Enr