The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away

Let us imagine for a minute that one of your parents was a victim of an automobile accident in which he or she suffered severe permanent brain damage and would never be able to breathe or have his heart beat spontaneously ever again. Would you tell the doctor to put he or she on a respirator and cardiac pacemaker to keep him “alive” as a vegetable, or would you tell the doctor to turn off the sustaining machines and let the heart and lungs stop operating “natur­ally”? What would you do if your...