Choose Life

Yesterday, I read about a couple who decided to end their lives in an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland.

"He spent his life conducting world-renowned orchestras, but was almost blind and growing deaf — the music he loved increasingly out of reach. His wife of 54 years had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So Edward and Joan Downes decided to die together.
Downes — Sir Edward since he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 — and his wife ended their lives last week at a Zurich clinic run by the assisted suicide group Dignitas. They drank a small amount of clear liquid and died hand-in-hand, their two adult children by their side. He was 85 and she was 74.

......Edward and Joan Downes are survived by their children and grandchildren. The family said the couple had no religious beliefs, and there would be no funeral. "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090714/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_obit_downes

When reading the above article, I couldn't help but think of a video I had seen about Dr. Rachamim Melamed-Cohen who had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease. I found an article based on an interview with him and the following are his words regarding mercy killing.

Equally essential to Melamed-Cohen's determination to carry on is his religious faith. "I feel at times that G-d has allowed me to live in order to show the world that even in such a condition one can continue to be creative and contribute to society... The message of Judaism is that one must struggle until the last breath of life. Until the last moment, one has to live and rejoice and give thanks to the Creator."
Melamed-Cohen has gained a certain prominence in the Israeli media for his outspoken opposition to the euthanasia movement. "What is mercy-killing?" he asks. "For whom is the mercy? Is it for the person with an illness? Or is it for the family, so that they should not have to suffer? For the medical establishment, to reduce expenditures? For the insurance companies? Mercy means helping others to live, and with dignity. Helping people to cut their lives short cannot be called mercy."

http://www.torah.org/features/firstperson/mercyredefined.html

Below is a video link to "In a blink of an eye."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whd40hhRoQw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eblogger%2Ecom%2Fpost%2Dedit%2Eg%3FblogID%3D3273796770070251781%26postID%3D4755332664881433089&feature=player_embedded