“I’m thoroughly convinced [Paul Wise is] a good man. I think his past history bears that out,” Adamson said. “Forty-five years of marriage, blessed to be deeply in love with his wife throughout those 45 years, and I am absolutely confident that everything that he’s ever done for his wife has been done out of deep love, including the events that just recently transpired.”

What are those recently transpired events that Mr. Adamson, attorney for Paul Wise, is referring to you may ask? What was the grand act of deep love shown to Mr. Wise’s wife of 45 years? Putting a bullet through her head, of course.

It’s unclear yet but the motive appears to be a mercy killing. Reading that a wife is shot in the head by her husband while she’s in the ICU and having it hailed as an act of “deep love” is disturbing enough; however, the comments to the news story are stomach turning. The apparent consensus is that if someone is experiencing suffering than committing murder is a justifiable good.

This is the same reasoning used to advocate the in utero slaughter of infants diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome and the mistreatment and denial of medical treatment for the elderly, disabled and chronically infirmed.

You can argue I am insensitive to the needs and wishes of a dying patient but I know first hand that euthanasia breeds the exact opposite of sensitivity among healthcare professionals. Empathy is learned and euthanasia prevents that learning. This I’ve learned first hand while working as a hospice nurse.

Murder is always wrong.