Women Overwhelmingly Targets of "Mercy Killings".(Brief Article)

Still another study has appeared shredding the myth that "mercy killings" are a "compassionate" effort usually by one spouse to "end the suffering" of the other. Drawing on an article that appeared in the September issue of Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, HealthScoutNews reported that "new research has found two-thirds of those whose lives are ended that way are women, and the researcher says that raises a troubling question: Are women's lives worth less than men's when it comes to long-term care?"

HealthScoutNews reporter Jennifer Thomas titled her story "The Manly Art of Mercy Killing." She quotes lead author Prof. Silvia Sara Canetto, an adept debunker of pro-euthanasia myths, who observed, "In the United States, euthanasia tends to be presented as an issue of self-determination, autonomy, choice.

"But when you actually look at what happens," Canetto continued, "you have a person who is very ill, dependent on others for care, vulnerable and exhausted. If you perceive yourself as a burden, or others perceive you as being a burden, you could be seen as a good candidate for death."

And most of the "good candidates for death" are women. Canetto, an associate professor of psychology at Colorado State University, explained why: "Many women do not have the resources, the sense of entitlement or the power and freedom to make the choice they desire, especially when they are sick and disabled."

Canetto concluded, based on her research, that "mercy killing and the further legalization of physician-assisted suicide are dangerous, particularly to older women," according to Thomas.

Prof. Canetto could not be accused of using a source unfavorable to the pro-euthanasia movement. Her team based their research on records compiled by the ...