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The Problem of Prolonging Life
posted on October 9, 2013Katy Butler writes for The Atlantic about her personal struggle with prolonging her father’s life via a pacemaker and grappling with the difficult ethical question of whether it should be turned off. She confesses, “I did not know if turning one off was considered a form of homicide, or criminal neglect, or simply mercy. I had more questions than answers. I felt guilty about my own thoughts, and afraid. But in my gut I suspected that the little device, so thoughtlessly installed, was keeping my father from a devoutly-wished for natural death.”