Crime of Compassion

In Crime of Compassion, Barbara Huttmann describes a situation in which she was forced to decide whether to resuscitate a patient, or not. One of the most important beliefs in the medical community is that they “must extend life as long as [they] have the means and the knowledge to do it.” By deciding in the end not to try to stop her patient’s inevitable death, Huttmann goes against the beliefs that many of her colleagues, and probably her herself, previously held. Her actions open up an important question: Is it a person’s right to refuse medical treatment, signing their own death warrant? It is my opinion that every person should be given this opportunity.

In everyd...