填空题

Joan Thomas:
My husband has been reduced to the condition of a vegetable. Keeping him alive is meaningless now. I’m sure that if he could speak, he would beg us to switch off that oxygen machine. Why can’t he die of dignity Seeing him in this condition is causing us all great suffering. He has been in a coma for more than five months and is being kept alive by this machine which supplies him with oxygen. I have applied to a court for permission to have the machine switched off. I believe that he would rather have died peacefully than prolonged suffering for such a long time.
Doctor Williams:
Mr. Thomson is clinically alive, but he has absolutely no chance of recovery. His brain has been irreparably damaged by the coma. He could remain in this condition for years. Frankly speaking, that would benefit nobody. Hospital beds are scarce and medical staff are very busy. Hundreds of patients are waiting to be treated. I would be wrong to keep Mr. Thomson here and to refuse other patients who do have a chance of recovery. If his relatives request us to switch off the machine and if the court gives us the permission, we will stop all the treatment and allow him to die a natural and painless death.
Doctor Fitzsim:
I’m very surprised that Doctor Williams approves of Mrs. Thomas’s court application. A doctor’s duty is to save people’s life in whatever way he can. A doctor can never say definitely that his patient has no chance of recovery, however bad the situation may seem. I’ve seen patients in the same conditions suddenly regain consciousness after several months and become relatively healthy again. Human life is far too invaluable to put an end to it for the convenience of others. Medical science has made great progress over the last 20 years with the development of new drugs and operational techniques. Many diseases can now be cured and the lives of incurable patients may be prolonged.
Graham Blanchard:
Right now, there are thousands of incurable patients lying helplessly in bed, suffering pain and misery and wishing they could be allowed to die. But the doctors are afraid to help with their death for fear of legal or professional impact. I propose that doctors be allowed to discontinue treatment or administer lethal doses of painkillers if requested to do so by patients suffering from incurable diseases, or, in the case of Mr. Thomas, by their relatives. It’s time the law recognized the fact the people not only have a right to live in dignity, they also have the right to die in dignity too.
Sidney Best:
Any doctor who, with the intention of putting an end to the life of a patient, performs acts which lead to the death of patient, may be convicted of murder, under the present law. No court is empowered to give the right to do such acts and therefore Mrs. Thomson’s application is certain to be rejected. But if parliament passes Mr. Blanchard Bill, the situation will change drastically. Doctors will be given the right to kill patients on request, thus making helpless patients in all kinds of dangers. There might be conspiracy between doctors and potential heirs, spouses wishing to remarry, even potential receivers of organ transplants. The intention of this Bill many be good, but the possibilities of abuse are too numerous for it to be passed.
Now match each of the persons (61 to 65) to the appropriate statement.
Note: there are two extra statements.
Statements

• [A] A doctor’s duty is to save his patient’s life not to end it.
• [B] Doctors should be given the right to decide whether to stop an incurable patient’s life.
• [C] My husband should be given the right to die of dignity.
• [D] It would be better for everyone that Mr. Thomas die a natural and painless death.
• [E] Doctors are afraid of mercy killing.
• [F] We should not pass the Bill for mercy killing, simply because it would put many patients’ lives in danger.
• [G] People have the right to die in dignity.

Doctor Fitzsim