"With a certain Dutch mentality - that of those who have made the legalization of euthanasia possible - I would certainly have died by now. Or rather, they would have let me die. Because the technical and human means were there to be used in situations like mine. It would have been, of course, simpler, more economical and, above all, much more comfortable for others to let me die". So said Luis de Moya, a quadriplegic priest who this week participated in a workshop on volunteer activities with the elderly, organized by the Office of the Vice President of Students at the University of Navarra.

Fortunately for me," he pointed out, "in the hospital and family environment in which I live, it is considered necessary to do everything reasonable to keep the sick person alive. Possibly, the great lack of companionship, of solidarity in moments of anguish and fear, of lack of meaning in an existence -one's own- that they mistakenly judge useless without anyone to make them see the priceless value and transcendence of being a person, is what those who lose the illusion of living suffer from".

Luis de Moya considers that "with the recent legalization of euthanasia in the Netherlands, only a legal status has been given to an already well-known and widespread internship . Supporters of euthanasia will feel liberated to exercise it more widely at their discretion. In fact, in most cases, the conditions for legality are highly debatable and arbitrary, even if several physicians are of the same opinion: if a patient is terminally ill, incurable or if his pain is unbearable. Not to mention how impossible it is to prove, once dead, the freedom the patient had".

This quadriplegic clarified that "the alleged individual freedom with which one wants to guarantee the will of the patient is not, far from it, a value that must be safeguarded in every person. If this were the case, we would have to tolerate the behavior of all criminals, if they act in freedom. Rather, it is necessary to look first and foremost at the concrete content of what is permitted or prohibited by the legal rule ".

"Legislation in general aims to adjust individual behavior, sometimes rebellious, to objectively correct criteria for the individual and for society," he said. "And since what euthanasia is about is killing a person, it does not seem that it is possible to consent to the request, not even from the person concerned. Even if the person who is going to die asks for his death, someone is killing him and the right to take life cannot be granted."

According to this priest, "we are not things that are discarded when they are no longer of interest, as we do with a car that is not worth maintaining because it produces more expenses than services. Man is renouncing his own dignity and greatness when he objectifies himself: he is converted by legislation into a product, into something that is made when it is of interest and, if it is not of interest, it is discarded. It is very different to truly help people to die, than to kill them, trying to do as much good as possible for them in their last moments: treating their pain, their loneliness, their despondency, etc. Certainly, it is more costly than a lethal injection, but more dignified and honorable for the person".

For Luis de Moya, the fact that quite a few Dutch patients prefer to be treated for their ailments in other countries for fear of being given a lethal drug without their consent indicates how common euthanasia internship has become in this country. "Naturally, economic motives weigh more and more - but not only those - because, as it has been said more than once, some people no longer produce and are cheaper dead than alive. Let us hope that we will never be valued on the basis of mere utility".