Christian Families and Euthanasia in Eastern Africa: Argumentation and Commentary

Abstract

The debate on the sacrality of and respect for human life has a polarizing social effect. Pro-lifers consider human life as God’s given gift and trust at the disposal of nobody. On the other hand, human rights campaigners deem human life as a personal property and thus people have a right to dispose of it as they would wish. Belgium (2002), Luxembourg (2009) and the Netherlands (2002 have legalized active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, provided that both a mentally capable patient and a physician strictly adhere to the prescribed conditions: the patient’s explicit request, the patient’s unbearable suffering/pains, the collegial consultation before on the part of the doctor and the notification of the act of euthanasia afterwards.1 Today there is a pressure from Western lobby groups, which want to export anti-life mentality to African countries as if this were a form of cultural progress.