Евтаназія: вбивство чи милосердя? а може, вбивство з милосердя?

Щодня у свiтi тисячi фiзично здорових людей добровiльно йдуть iз життя через те, що не в змозi витримати душевнi страждання. У той же час тисячi безнадiйно хворих страждають вiд фiзичного болю. Чи має право хтось iз людей (бо самi вони не в змозi) покласти край їхньому стражданню, вчинивши «вбивство з милосердя»?

Гарне медичне слово «евтаназiя» означає безболiсне навмисне умертвiння хворого з метою полегшення його страждань. Проблема евтаназiї виникла не сьогоднi i не раптово. Англiйський фiлософ Френсiс Бекон (1561–1626) для означення легкої безболiсної смертi ввiв термiн «евтаназiя», тобто хороша, спокiйна i легка смерть, без мук i страждань.

Кiлька рокiв тому великого розголосу набув судовий процес над 71-рiчним хiрургом Джеком Кеворкяном, активним пропагандистом евтаназiї (звільнення вiд страждань тяжкохворої людини за допомогою безболісного умертвіння), що вiдбувся у м. Понтiак штату Мiчiган США. «Лiкар Смерть» за певний перiод зa допомогою спецiального ним розробленого апарата умертвив 130 безнадiйних пацiєнтiв. Шiсть разiв за цей час вiн притягався до суду, i суд виправдовував лiкаря. Востаннє вiн вiдмовився вiд адвоката, i суд визнав його винним. Вирок – 25 рокiв тюремного ув’язнення. Багато хто висловлював на адресу «Лiкаря Смерть» осуд й неприязнь. Однак є i багато прихильникiв Кеворкяна серед вчених та хворих. Одна з його послiдовниць – медсестра з Угорщини, яка отримала прiзвисько Чорний Ангел, – нинi теж уже за гратами. Хоч вона й переконувала суддiв, що вводила смертельну iн’єкцiю хворим лише на їхнє прохання, чи, наприклад, якщо хворий перебував у глибокiй комi й життя його пiдтримувалося лише за допомогою апаратiв, на прохання близьких родичiв.

Якщо розiбратися детальнiше, то поняття «евтаназiя» має дуже глибоке коріння. Так, у Спартi вбивали немовлят, народжених слабкими й хворими, у деяких первiсних племен був звичай убивати старих людей, якi стали тягарем для iнших. На початку минулого столiття юрист Бiндiнг i психiатр Гохе запропонували називати евтаназiєю знищення так званих «неповноцiнних» людей. Евтаназiя у такiй iнтерпретацiї широко застосовувалася в гiтлерiвськiй Нiмеччинi, де була спецiально розроблена програма масового знищення людей з рiзними формами захворювань (психiчно хворих, епiлептикiв, паралiзованих тощо). Все це робилося «в iнтересах нацiї». Нинi питання про допустимiсть евтаназiї обговорюється в багатьох країнах свiту, а в рядi країн евтаназiя визнана законною: зокрема, у Нідерландах, в Австралiї, з деякими застереженнями у Канаді. У нас же евтаназiю ранiше прийнято було згадувати як явище, властиве виключно капiталiстичному суспiльству, позбавленому елементарних принципiв моралi. Те, що подiбне може бути у нас, сприймалося як абсурд. Не тому, напевно, що всi українцi чи росiяни такi ревнi вiруючі i у всьому, зокрема в питаннi життя i смертi, покладаються на Бога. Можливо, тут далося взнаки горезвiсне українське терпiння? А може, не одному поколiнню втовкмаченi незабутнi слова Павки Корчагiна, що «життя дається тiльки раз...» У той же час багато вчених зі свiтовим iменем вважають, що є категорiї людей, для яких є допустимим «убивство з милосердя».

Злиденне становище нашої медицини – важливий об’єктивний фактор популярностi евтаназiї. Воно формує думку, що медично дозволена смерть i припинення життя є достойнiшими за нестерпне споглядання того, як помирають безнадiйно хворi, котрим суспiльство не в змозi допомогти. У той же час це сприятиме поширенню в суспiльствi цинiзму, нiгiлiзму i моральної деградацiї в цiлому, що є неминучим при вiдмовi вiд дотримання заповiдi «не убий».

Grammar Focus

We form the Passive with the verb to be and the past participle of the main verb.

The Passive
	Active	Passive
Present Simple	He delivers the parcels.	The parcels are delivered.
Present Continuous	He is delivering the parcels.	The parcels are being delivered.
Past Simple	He delivered the parcels.	The parcels were delivered.
Past Continuous	He was delivering the parcels.	The parcels were being delivered.
Future Simple	He will deliver the parcels.	The parcels will be delivered.
Present Perfect	He has delivered the parcels.	The parcels have been delivered.
Past Perfect	He had delivered the parcels.	The parcels had been delivered.
Future Perfect	He will have delivered the parcels.	The parcels will have been delivered.
Present Infinitive	He must deliver the parcels.	The parcels must be delivered.
Perfect Infinitive	He must have delivered the parcels.	The parcels must have been delivered.
Simple –ing form	I object to his delivering the parcels.	I object to the parcels being delivered.
Perfect –ing form	Having delivered the parcels…	The parcels having been delivered…
Modals + be + p.p.	He should deliver the parcels.	The parcels should be delivered.

The present perfect continuous, the future continuous, the past perfect continuous and the future perfect continuous are not normally used in the passive.

We can use the verb to get instead of the verb to be in everyday speech when we talk about things that happen by accident or unexpectedly.

We use the passive:
a) when the person who carries out the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context. e.g. a) My flat was broken into last week. (We do not know who broke into the flat.) b) Coffee beans are grown in Brazil. (It is not important to know who grows the coffee.) c) My car was serviced yesterday. (It is obvious that a mechanic serviced it.)	b) when the action itself is more important than the person who carries it out, as in news headlines, newspaper articles, formal notices, instructions, advertisements, processes, etc. e.g. a) The new hospital will be opened by the Queen on May 15th. (formal notice) b) Then, the milk is taken to a factory where it is pasteurized. (process)
c) when we refer to an unpleasant event and we do not want to say who or what is to blame. e.g. A lot of mistakes have been made, (instead of 'You have made a lot of mistakes’)

Changing from active into passive
1. To change a sentence from the active into the passive: a) the object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive sentence. b) the active verb remains in the same tense, but changes into a passive form. c) the subject of the active sentence becomes the agent, and is either introduced with the preposition by or omitted.	2. Only transitive verbs (verbs followed by an object) can be changed into the passive. e.g. active: Grandma knitted my jumper, (transitive verb) passive: My jumper was knitted by Grandma. But: They travelled to Lisbon last summer (intransitive verb) Some transitive verbs such as have, fit, suit, resemble, etc. cannot be changed into the passive. e.g. I have a shower every morning. (NOT: A shower is had by me…)
3. The agent is often omitted in the passive sentence when the subject of the active sentence is one of the following words: people, one, someone, somebody, they, he, etc. e.g. active: Somebody has rearranged the furniture. passive: The furniture has been rearranged. But: The agent is not omitted when it is a specific or important person or when it is essential to the meaning of the sentence. e.g. a) The ‘Mona Lisa’ was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. b) A new law has been passed by the government.	4. With verbs which take two objects such as bring, tell, send, show, teach, promise, buy, throw, write, award, hand, sell, owe, grant, allow, feed, pass, post, read, take, offer, give, pay and lend we can make two different passive sentences. active: Patrick gave Laura some flowers. passive: a) Laura was given some flowers by Patrick, (more usual) b) Some flowers were given to Laura by Patrick, (less usual)
5. We use by + agent to say who or what carries out the action. We use with + instrument/material/ingredient to say what the agent used. e.g. The pancakes were made by Claire. They were made with eggs, flour and milk.	6. Object pronouns (me, him, you, etc.) become subject pronouns (I, he, you, etc.) in the passive. e.g. active: They arrested him. passive: He was arrested.
7. When the verb of the active sentence is followed by a preposition, the preposition is kept in the passive sentence as well. e.g. active: They presented him with a medal. passive: He was presented with a medal.	8. When we want to find out who or what did something, then the passive question form is as follows: e.g. Who was Australia discovered by? What was the fire caused by?
10. The verbs hear, help, see and make are followed by the bare infinitive in the active but by the to-infinitive in the passive. e.g. active: They saw him leave the building. passive: He was seen to leave the building. But: hear, see, watch + -ing form (active and passive) e.g. active: They saw him running down the stairs. passive: He was seen running down the stairs.	11. The verbs think, believe, say, report, know, expect, consider, understand, etc. are used in the following passive patterns in personal and impersonal constructions. active: People believe that he lied in court, passive: a) It is believed (that) he lied in court. (impersonal construction) b) He is believed to have lied in court, (personal construction) active: They expect him to arrive soon, passive: c) It is expected (that) he will arrive soon. d) He is expected to arrive soon.

Exercise 1. Insert the required tense (Passive Voice).

1. "I don't want to hear another word. I __ never __ so __ in my whole life, (to insult) (Shaw) 2. But what shall I do if you __ ? (to kill) (Shaw) 3. Godfrey waited, before he spoke again, until the ale __ and the door __ (to bring, to close) (Eliot) 4. In whatever spare time he could find, he read the current research journals, trying to understand the implications of the experiments which __ throughout the world, (to perform) (Wilson) 5. Merriman, order the dog-cart at once. Mr. Ernest __ suddenly to town, (to call back) (Wilde) 6. Upon the Doctor and the widow the eyes of both Mr. Tuprnan and his companion __ for some time, when the stranger broke silence, (to fix) (Dickens) 7. In 1834, the Houses of Parliament, with the exception of Westminster Hall __ by fire. They __ '. by Sir Charles Barry, (to destroy, to rebuild) 8. "I'm afraid that we're going to have to move," he said. "This lab won't be big enough for us after all. But there's a double room on the eleventh floor that __ " (to use — negative) (Wilson) 9. Lanny noticed that he __ by three white men from the coffee stall on the other side of the road, (to watch) 10. It was past eleven o'clock — a late hour for the little village of Cobham — when Mr. Pickwick retired to the bedroom which __ for his reception, (to prepare) (Dickens) 11. We __. if we __, but never mind, (to scold, to see) (Ch. Bronte) 12. The Nobel Prize __ to him in 1924 when the advent of wave mechanics had revealed the importance of his work, ten years after his famous experiment __ (to give, to perform) (Wilson) 13. The camp of peace will not allow the outbreak of a new war that __ by the imperialists. (to prepare) 14. I called... to ask if a diamond brooch of mine __ (to find) (Wilde) 15. The tea-things __ scarcely ___ when the London coach deposited Mr. Weller, senior, at the door, (to put away) (Dickens) 16. Annette's most valuable stone was ruby, which __ to her when she was twelve by an Indian prince who was in love with her mother, (to give) (Murdoch) 17. He [Jim] put down his pail... and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage __ (to unwind) (Twain) 18. He carefully examined the contents of his case, and did not speak again until the beer __ and he had paid for it. (to bring) (Priestley) 19. The little patient — and __, and now lay composed in her crib, (to examine, to soothe) (Ch. Bronte) 20. It was an idea that __ at that moment __ by Colonel Melchett and Colonel Bantry. (to discuss) (Christie) 21. Lanny __ cruelly, heartlessly in the way Sara __ When he __, the barking of a dog __ It __ by hurried footsteps, (to beat, to beat, to beat, to hear, to follow) 22. He [Arthur] went up to his room. Nothing in it __ since his arrest, (to change) (Voynich) 23. You can feel when you __. (to watch] (Hilton) 24. The oldest of London's present-day theatres is th( Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which __ in 1663 and __ since __ several times, (to open, to reconstruct) 25. Below decks the atmosphere was close. Many cigarettes __ and __. (to smoke to smoke) (Clark) 26. She kept an eye on the Leanharn people to see that her action __ duly ___ (to notice) (Maugham) 27. Rumania is a Balkan State which __ long __ for its mineral springs. (to know) (Maugham) 28. After a few routine questions __ and __, Dr. Lord leant back in his chair and smiled at his patient, (to ask, to answer) (Christie) 29. Ettore was twenty-three. He __ by an uncle in San Francisco and was visiting his father and mother in Torino when war __ (to bring up, to declare) (Hemingway) 30. He strode up to the front door of the forlorn house and rang the bell like one who __ there for weeks, (to expect) (Priestley) 31. After lunch, we heard that Charles Lenton __ for. (to send) (Snow) 32. Breakfast __ scarcely ___ when a waiter brought in Mr. Dowler's card, (to clear away) (Dickens) 33. One could not walk or drive about Philadelphia without seeing or being impressed with the general tendency toward a more cultivated and selective social life. Many excellent and expensive houses __ (to erect) (Dreiser) 34. I __ constantly __ in the street. I like it. It gives an amusement to the dullest walk, (to follow) (Maugham) 35. A minute earlier, a small boy with a partly deflated red balloon had run out into the cleared forbidden street. He __ just __ _: and __ back to the curb by his father... (to capture, to drag) (Salinger) 36....the railway __ at all at that time, (to use — negitive) (Shute) 37. Ant on a: Thank you. Thank you. Martin: What __ I __ for? (to thank) (Murdoch and Priestley) 38. The gentleman was so startled that he took the night train for the Continent and __ never __ of since, (to hear) (Maugham)