Ln33 2

LifeNEWS

OCTOBER 2017

PROMOTING THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

VOLUME 33 NUMBER 2

My Mom Just Died Of Brain Cancer. 
 Here’s Why She Opposed Assisted Suicide MARY KARNER I’ll admit it, I’m an adrenaline junkie. And judging from the plethora of new TV shows like “Trauma: Life in the ER” or “Code Black,” most of America is too. Except that’s my life. I’m a Trauma Nurse. I eat, sleep, and breathe trauma. Every time I walk into work with a French Vanilla Swirl Latte from Dunkin’ Donuts in my hand, life and death are waiting for me. And up until this week I thought I’d seen just about everything. I’ve performed CPR till I thought my arms would fall off to keep blood pumping through a child’s body. I’ve administered life-saving medication to a patient having a stroke and seen the joy on his face when he regained his speech. I’ve had a patient fall through a ceiling onto another patient (I can’t even make that up.) I’ve held the hand of patients as they’ve taken their last breath, and I’ve hugged family members so tight I couldn’t breathe. I really thought I’d seen it all. And then last week, my mom died. She had a glioblastoma brain tumour. I knew all about it, even cared for patients with her same diagnosis. I knew what was going to happen. But no matter how much I thought I was ready, I wasn’t. Death stings. And my beautiful, 52-year-old mother’s grave is freshly dug. But my mom’s name was Dr. Maggie Karner. And she was the textbook definition of awesome. Don’t take my word for it, Google her. She devoted her entire life to helping others and spreading Christ’s beautiful gift of

This Issue*

mercy for all. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard my mom speak more passionately then when she was talking about the word “mercy.” And that’s why my mom used her last days on Earth to campaign against a very dangerous use of that word. A “merciful death” some would call it, or a “right to die.” My mom is most famous for a YouTube video that went viral entitled “A Letter to Brittany Maynard.” In the video my mom pleaded with Brittany, who had the same diagnosis, not to commit assisted suicide. Unfortunately, Brittany eventually chose to end her life, but my mom never stopped advocating for life. In her words, “How long will it be before the right to die quickly devolves into the duty to die? What does this mean for all who are elderly, or disabled, or just wondering if they’ve become a burden to the family?” Even while she was receiving chemotherapy, my mom spoke at the Connecticut state house to lobby against a “right to die” bill. The bill did not pass. Difficulty Doesn’t Justify Suicide.

Dr. Maggie Karner holds a child during a 2010 Mercy Medical Team visit to Madagascar. Karner, director of LCMS Life and Health Ministries for 12 years, died Sept. 25, 2015 from brain cancer. (LCMS Health Ministry)

1: my mom just died of brain cancer 2: EDITORIAL

That’s why my heart breaks tonight to learn the news that California’s governor has just signed legislation allowing residents of the state to take their own lives in the face of terminal illness. This makes five states in our nation allowing assisted suicide. ‘My brain may be cancerous, but I still have lots to contribute to society.’

3: new lfl website 4: life, death and hamlet

Life News is the newsletter of Lutherans for Life Inc - Est. in 1987 Sponsored by the Lutheran Church of Australia. Print Post Approved Periodical No, PP442570/0006 ISSN 1033-7725 EDITOR: Kimberley Pfeiffer LN.editor@gmail.com

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