Can Killing Be Ever Called a Mercy?

Can killing, taking a human life, ever be a mercy for the victim? This is one concept where, try as we might, logic flies out the window and emotions take over. After all, we are talking about the top of the pyramid - life; the big kahuna. Everything else pales in comparison.

In some circumstances, of course, the answer is a straightforward and abhorrent no. Examples are Hitler's experiments to create a master race; and the on-going practice in North Korea, where "unsuitable" infants are murdered with state sanction.

But what happens when the circumstances are not that straightforward. The debate about euthanasia - putting to sleep terminally ill patients - has been raging for decades; and probably will never reach a definitive conclusion. However, among many doctors today, there is a growing acceptance of the ideas of euthanasia, suicide and hastening death for the mortally sick.

Recently, a doctors' group in London called for a debate on mercy killing of disabled babies. The medical profession should examine the "active euthanasia" of desperately-ill newborns, said the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology. It wants an inquiry into whether the "deliberate intervention to cause the death of an infant" should be legalized. The college suggests that decisions on when young babies should be killed or allowed to die should not depend solely on the gravity of their condition. It has called for a debate on the ethics of treatment for severely ill and disabled newborns; and raised the question of whether such children should be killed if they are not wanted by their parents. The college said of euthanasia in babies: "If assisted dying legislation is to be anticipated or enacted at the other end of life, now would be a pertinent time to discuss this."