In the essay, "A Crime of Compassion", the author Barbara Huttmann begins her story by telling how people viewed her as a "murderer" (Huttmann para 1). Is helping someone to end his or her suffering murder? What we first must understand in order to answer that question is what euthanasia or "mercy killing" is. Nursing World describes euthanasia as "the act of putting to death someone suffering from a painful and prolonged illness or injury" ("Active Euthanasia" para 2). I think the key words here are "painful and prolonged

Huttmann describes how she felt day in and day out after being with Mac all day. "At night I went home and tried to scrub away the smell of decaying flesh that seemed woven into the fabric of my uniform. It was in my hair, the upholstery of my car-there was no washing it away. And every night I prayed that Mac would die, that his agonized eyes would never again plead with me to let him die" (Huttmann para 8). How can a world that claims to be so medically advanced let someone suffer the way Mac did? So many people lay in nursing homes and hospitals’ suffering from whatever illness that has overtaken their body and for many of them there is no mercy for months or even years. Why as humans do we not try to help someone who is suffering in what seems to be an unjust manner? Are there more healthcare professionals assisting in mercy killings than we know?

How could this have kept up for so long? Why was Mac not given a DNR (do not resuscitate) order? These were the questions that Huttmann asked herself everyday, as she watched Mac beg for mercy and end his suffering (Huttmann para 5). What would be the difference of letting Mac die at home without medication or medical intervention and Huttmann not pushing the "code blue" button? Why is the latter a crime? An article called, "Suicide Facts, Assisted Suicides Euthanasia and Terminal Illness", by Geo Stone, tells that "In the United States, treatment-refusal is the only legally-protected method for choosing death", only after the patients have been determined legally competent (Stone para 32). Maybe early on in his cancer treatment, when Mac was "legally competent", he should have stated in writing that he was not to be resuscitated. Doing so would have created less controversy over his death. Although, who is to say that by Huttmann not pushing the "code blue" button she was murdering him? Did Mac then not die of natural

Some topics in this essay:
Geo Stone, Active Euthanasia, , ICU Huttmann, Mac DNR, Barbara Huttmann, Nursing World, huttmann para, stone para, mercy killings, code blue button, Crime Compassion, mac die, calling help, code blue, para 6, blue button, huttmann para 6, stone para 67, painful prolonged, huttmann pushing code, nursing homes, pushing code blue,