The Easy Way Out of Prison

Imagine being sentenced to prison for life as South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was recently for the crime of blowing away his wife and son. Life in prison is no fun. For some, it is a fate worse than death. Would you choose the death penalty if you had the choice? 

In countries that have legalized physician assisted suicide, the option is being carried out.

From Spiked-Online comes this report by Kevin Yuill (author of Assisted Suicide: The Liberal, Humanist Case Against Legalisation), 

Geneviève Lhermitte was an infamous murderer. She killed her son and four daughters, aged between three and 14, in Nivelles, Belgium on 28 February 2007. On 28 February 2023, she was euthanised, after she successfully invoked her ‘right to die’.

Lhermitte’s crimes were horrifying. On that dreadful day 16 years ago, she locked the door to their home and slit the throat of each of her children. At her trial in 2008, Lhermitte explained how she invited her daughter, Myriam, into her office, telling her to put a blindfold on for a ‘surprise’. Lhermitte then hit her over the head with a marble plaque, knocking her out before killing her with a knife. She murdered all five of her children that night.

At her trial, Lhermitte’s lawyers argued that she was mentally disturbed and should not be sent to prison. But the jury found her guilty of premeditated murder and she was sentenced to life in jail. Having served 11 years, Lhermitte was moved to a psychiatric hospital in 2019.

Belgian law allows for people to choose to be euthanised if they are deemed to be experiencing ‘unbearable’ physical and / or psychological suffering. They must be conscious of their decision and be able to express their request in a reasoned and consistent manner. According to Lhermitte’s lawyer, she fulfilled all the criteria and received the approval of doctors.

This case exposes the logical and ethical problems of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Belgium and elsewhere. And, above all, it undermines one of assisted-suicide campaigners’ central claims – that euthanasia is an act of ‘autonomy and choice’.

After all, how can a prisoner – or someone in a psychiatric facility – make a free and uncoerced decision to die? A prisoner cannot even have a private consultation with a doctor, as guards must always be present. A prisoner is told when to get up, when to eat, when to go to bed. His or her entire life is coerced.

Belgium is not the only nation to euthanise prisoners. In Canada, where assisted suicide is also offered as a medical treatment, three prisoners have been euthanised to date. The story of one of them, known only as ‘patient one’, illustrates the key problem with this practice. He informed his parole officer that he wished to receive medical assistance in dying (MAID) and was advised to first apply for compassionate release. This was denied, at which point he submitted a request for MAID, which was accepted. He was shackled and guards were present during the assessment of his request.

Canada’s federal prison ombudsman was sufficiently disturbed by the three cases that he said in 2020 that MAID should no longer be accessible to prisoners, because incarceration compromises individuals’ ability to consent to euthanasia. Indeed, euthanasia in these circumstances essentially comes down to prison officials and doctors making a subjective judgement about the hopelessness of a prisoner’s continued existence...

Euthanising prisoners is the inevitable consequence of legalising assisted suicide. Assisted suicide essentially redefines death as an acceptable medical treatment for suffering. In turn, denying someone that treatment is presented as cruel and inhumane. It is by this logic that euthanasia is now being extended to prisoners – on the grounds that they are suffering psychologically.

Talk about a "get out of jail free card"! 

What about the poor souls who are serving life sentences for crimes they did not commit? I can imagine their mental anguish might lead them to take the easy way out. Imagine the, "Oops we made a mistake", when after they had been put to death exculpatory evidence came forth that would have changed their decision.

As Christians, we never lose hope because of our faith in Jesus. 

Pray for those in physical prison or in the prison of their minds that they put their lives in the hands of the Lord and Saviour of us all for He is the way out. Sometimes it isn't easy, but his yoke is easy and his burden light for those that accept it.