“If it came to light, I’d be prepared to face the consequences”

That was a statement made by a woman in Ireland who, several years ago, quietly broke the law against euthanasia and overdosed her dying father to help speed along his demise.

Well, it’s come to light. On Ireland’s national radio station. When the woman called in and told the whole story.

Gardai are deciding whether a formal investigation will be launched following the call from a woman who claimed she injected her father with an overdose of anaesthetic drug as he lay dying from cancer in a hospital ward 10 years ago.

It’s a case like others coming to light, when people think they’re doing the loving, compassionate thing and putting people out of their misery.

She said her father had terminal cancer and had been enduring terrible pain for around six months before she administered the fatal injection. When asked if she had covered up her action, she said “there wasn’t any need”.

“I was visiting my dad. I administered the drug. I slipped away home quietly, sadly, but happy in another way that he was gone.

That cleanses the conscience, thinking we’re being “compassionate” in choosing to help someone die. But apparently it did stab her conscience a bit.

The woman said she had confided in a priest but had told no one else of what she had done. She said that she was aware it was a criminal act to participate in euthanasia but that her priority was helping her father.

Whether that was a confession or a discussion in confidence is unclear. But the Church is very clear on its unchanged teaching that euthanasia is one of the five “non-negotiables” that are “instrinsically evil” and can never be legalized morally or justly.

So she took her admission public. What….to exonerate her actions? To mainstream the idea and publicly fish for support?

The woman described her father’s deteriorated condition and justified what she did by insisting he had lost his dignity. By whose definition?

Human dignity is not relative.

This is the reason for ‘America’s Lifeline’. It’s received a few provocative calls recently, too. Which is good. It provokes a necessary conversation. And shows that some people who think it’s okay to decide when life should end….are listening.