20 Answers- End of Life Issues by Jason Negri

Author:Jason Negri [Negri, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Catholic Answers Press
Published: 2016-06-20T05:00:00+00:00

14. What is “elder abuse,” and how does it factor into this debate?

Elder abuse has recently been a focus of mainstream media concern. It can take the form of physical abuse, sexual abuse, intimidation/psychological abuse, and financial abuse such as theft of the victim’s assets (this happens all too often when an adult child is added on to the bank account of the victim and starts treating the victim’s money as his own). Perhaps the most common form of elder abuse is neglect: Elders tied to chairs and left alone all day, given one meal per day, rarely or never bathed or toileted, ignored, left to languish. This often happens at the hands of their own children. According to the National Committee on the Prevention of Elder Abuse, some 4 to 6 percent of elders in America suffer some form of abuse. A 1996 study revealed that over 450,000 elderly experienced some form of abuse.16

We like to think that all older people enjoy a happy home environment where they are loved and cared for. The sad truth is that not everyone has this. As an attorney, far too often I see broken families where strife, mistrust, neglect, avarice, and outright malice are present. If your family is not like this, be thankful. But unfortunately, some are.

It doesn’t take a very robust imagination to see how assisted suicide greases the skids to elder abuse. There will be pressure or even coercion from greedy heirs for elderly patients to die; vulnerable patients could be given the lethal drugs, masked by food or drink, and no one would know or even suspect what really happened; the abuser could make life so miserable for the victim that death would be seen as a welcome escape. The dysfunction already present in elder-abuse situations can too easily result in the victim’s death, with the abuser getting away with it because there’s no longer any evidence or someone to complain or testify.

It’s easy for the general public to support the idea of assisted suicide when it’s couched in terms of personal autonomy and rights—it’s sometimes said that its supporters are “the white, worried, wealthy, and well.” These people perhaps don’t understand what it means to be marginalized, to be seen as having less worth or dignity than others, and they certainly don’t know what it’s like to live in fear. But it is a hard truth that there is already far too much elder abuse, and the availability of assisted suicide can too easily be used by unscrupulous family members to get rid of Mom or Dad much quicker, and hide their manipulations by making it all look like it was Mom’s idea—Mom’s choice—to go this way.

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