Assisted Suicide - Yay or Nay?

[George-ananda]

Assisted suicide laws have that...you need to see doctors, psychiatrists, etc.

I'm sure that's true. i was replying to a post that said:

I think anyone who wants to die should have the easiest, most pain-free methods made available to them to help them along. I don't limit this to terminally or chronically ill people.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

What about depressed people deciding this at their lowest point? We need limitations.

Yeah, I wouldn't go that far. Mentally ill people should not be encouraged to harm or kill themselves. They need to get help. But a terminally ill person should be allowed to end it in a painless manner.

Basically, if there's a realistic chance that their situation can change for the better than they shouldn't be "helped" into their grave.

 

[4consideration]

Yeah, I wouldn't go that far. Mentally ill people should be encouraged to harm or kill themselves. They need to get help. But a terminally ill person should be allowed to end it in a painless manner.

Basically, if there's a realistic chance that their situation can change for the better than they shouldn't be "helped" into their grave.

I think you meant to include the word "not" in the second sentence. Is that correct?

 

[Revoltingest]

I think you meant to include the word "not" in the second sentence. Is that correct?

It's in the contraction.

 

[SkepticThinker]

My father died of cancer - lymphoma that spread to his brain. After he lost consciousness for the last time, and after the doctors confirmed that he would never wake up again, his doctor presented my mother, my sister, and I with a choice: we could leave him on his IV and he would live a few more weeks until he finally died of cancer, or we could remove the IV and he would die in a few days of dehydration.

I wish we had been given a third option: to give him something to allow him to die quickly and peacefully without any more suffering.

My father and my grandmother were in similar situations - both unconscious toward the end and inevitably going to die. The nurses gave them an extra high dose of morphine and they both passed away peacefully. I'm very grateful to them for doing that and possibly risking their jobs to help someone die with dignity and peace. I can only wish the same for myself when my time comes.

On the other hand my husband and I watched his grandmother choke to death, similar to someone else's experience on this thread. That was horrible and I wouldn't wish such a thing on anyone.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

What about depressed people deciding this at their lowest point? We need limitations.

I think if someone has repeatedly sought treatment for depression, or some other emotional/psychological disorder, and they have not been able to achieve a decent quality of life, then it should certainly be up to them whether or not they find continuing life to be in their best interest or not. People will commit suicide regardless, so they might as well have the option of something that is easy, painless, and effective, if they decide on such a course.

 

[Nymphs]

I think if someone has repeatedly sought treatment for depression, or some other emotional/psychological disorder, and they have not been able to achieve a decent quality of life, then it should certainly be up to them whether or not they find continuing life to be in their best interest or not. People will commit suicide regardless, so they might as well have the option of something that is easy, painless, and effective, if they decide on such a course.

I'm with you on that.

 

[dawny0826]

I'm of the opinion that if a person wants to off themselves without medical justification, there is a depraved selfishness in the notion that medical professionals (or anyone) should be obligated to assist them with their demise.

I do believe that a person who is terminally ill should have the right to request euthanasia to end their misery. Even in these instances, however, I feel that medical professionals should be able to refuse to provide such a service if there would be a confliction with their own moral code.

 

[Leftimies]

Why would anyone need assistance in dying? It seems pretty simple to me. You know, guns, cliffs, ovens, ropes, pills, blades...the choices are virtually endless and of do-it-yourself -nature.

 

[John Doe]

Why would anyone need assistance in dying? It seems pretty simple to me. You know, guns, cliffs, ovens, ropes, pills, blades...the choices are virtually endless and of do-it-yourself -nature.

Wrong.

Most suicide attempts fail, often with awful consequences.

I suggest that if you ever do decide to end your life, do some real research first, or you will probably be one of that very large number who screw it up and make things even worse.

"No, not me, I'm smart"

If you were that smart you would not have expressed such a misinformed opinion.

"It seems pretty simple to me".

Yeah, I'm sure it does ... things often seem that way when you don't investigate them. Check the statistics for yourself.

 

[Revoltingest]

Why would anyone need assistance in dying? It seems pretty simple to me. You know, guns, cliffs, ovens, ropes, pills, blades...the choices are virtually endless and of do-it-yourself -nature.

People are incompetent, & muck up the job.
Pluse, suicide by car crash can involve innocents.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I think you meant to include the word "not" in the second sentence. Is that correct?

Yes. Lol. I do that a lot, leave out words in sentences. Don't know why.

 

[Poisonshady313]

I do believe that a person who is terminally ill should have the right to request euthanasia to end their misery. Even in these instances, however, I feel that medical professionals should be able to refuse to provide such a service if there would be a confliction with their own moral code.

The medical professional whose moral code prevents him or her from providing a medical service to end the suffering of a patient shouldn't have a job that allows them to make that decision. Let them administer flu shots or something. Leave the more serious cases to those whose medical decisions are guided by medical justifications.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

People should be allowed to die if that is their choice. No one should be legally made to be forced to live their final days in suffering when the suffering can be avoided.

I'm thinking of training my cats to smother me.

Are you sure they haven't already planned that? Or maybe shooting, stabbing, or clawing you in your sleep? What about all that in-between leg weaving they do? It's attempted assassination if you ask me.

 

[Revoltingest]

People should be allowed to die if that is their choice. No one should be legally made to be forced to live their final days in suffering when the suffering can be avoided.


Are you sure they haven't already planned that? Or maybe shooting, stabbing, or clawing you in your sleep? What about all that in-between leg weaving they do? It's attempted assassination if you ask me.

I've already considered these possibilities. The cats don't get the combination to the gun
safe. (Their paws couldn't operate a Simplex lock anyway.) And if they try to smother me
while I'm still vigorous, I'd wake up & lecture them on their premature efforts.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I'm thinking of training my cats to smother me.

I've already considered these possibilities. The cats don't get the combination to the gun
safe. (Their paws couldn't operate a Simplex lock anyway.) And if they try to smother me
while I'm still vigorous, I'd wake up & lecture them on their premature efforts.

I wish my cats were more like that. One of my cats will occasionally give me these crazy psycho "I'm going to rip your throat out and eat it" grins as she stares me down. And there have been a few times I think the other cat has tried to collapse my rib cage given the height of a few of her jumps as she came crashing down onto my ribcage.

 

[psychoslice]

Wrong.

Most suicide attempts fail, often with awful consequences.

I suggest that if you ever do decide to end your life, do some real research first, or you will probably be one of that very large number who screw it up and make things even worse.

"No, not me, I'm smart"

If you were that smart you would not have expressed such a misinformed opinion.

"It seems pretty simple to me".

Yeah, I'm sure it does ... things often seem that way when you don't investigate them. Check the statistics for yourself.

Gee, I'm glad you sorted that out, I've heard of people trying to blow their brains out, but missed and half of their face is blown off, and they still survived.

 

[methylatedghosts]

This is a tough one, as there are many factors involved.

I believe that on other-than-conscious levels, everyone chooses the time and manner of their deaths. I also don't hold the belief that death and illness is necessarily bad, rather, natural expressions of a persons inner beliefs and realities (and therefore, self-created). If disease is self-created, then it should follow that diseases are self-healed too. Now, because most people do not agree, and most believe that disease and death are the result of external forces beyond their control (God, viruses, or radiation for example), that health must come from an external source too (priests, doctors, pills, surgery). So any treatment must come, in that case, from external sources. There is also the belief that to be sick or to die is a very bad thing, which results in, what I think, rather extreme measures to lengthen a life at any cost.

Now, given all of that information, I feel that for me personally, I would not choose euthanasia, but neither would I choose a stupidly lengthened life at the expense of quality of life, I would rather die of it, our figure out how to heal all by myself. However I do also think that it is an important option to have open to everyone, if they feel it necessary.

 

[Nymphs]

Why would anyone need assistance in dying? It seems pretty simple to me. You know, guns, cliffs, ovens, ropes, pills, blades...the choices are virtually endless and of do-it-yourself -nature.

Those are very violent, often require clean-up and are hard.

 

[methylatedghosts]

Those are very violent, often require clean-up and are hard.

Not to mention traumatising