Human euthanasia moral?

[Draka]

So, how about it? Is euthanasia for humans moral? Do you personally find it to be something completely moral or completely immoral? Right or wrong?

 

[Storm]

Moral. It's called "mercy killing" for a reason.

 

[whereismynotecard]

I think it is very moral.

 

[Troublemane]

In circumstances where there is no chance of recovery, and the body is brain dead, yeah, theres no other choice then.

 

[Kungfuzed]

It might be a little difficult to draw the line on who to kill and who to keep alive. It's something that should be decided between the doctor and patient, or whoever has the legal right to decide for the patient if the patient is unconsious. I don't know if pain is really a reason to euthenize someone. Usually pain is just temporary, or can be managed one way or another. I just don't see the point in keeping a brain dead persons heart beating for decades.

 

[Aqualung]

It's circumstantial and I can't really make the morality call.

 

[whereismynotecard]

Yeah... I know I wouldn't want to keep being alive and not even know it... I mean, I wouldn't know that it was happening, but it would be a waste of everyone's time and efforts to keep me alive if I wasn't even aware that I was living...

 

[Katzpur]

I really struggle with this question. I know that I would be going against the doctrines of my Church to vote "yes," but deep down I believe that there are times when it would be okay with God. We euthanize our pets and this is because we love them and don't want them to suffer when there is no hope that they will recover. I've never been able to figure out why we can't show this same compassion towards our fellow humans. Yes, I know... Miracles happen and we can never know with an absolute certainty that God would not intervene and the person's life be spared after all. So that's an issue that has to be considered, at least by someone who believes in the Abrahamic God. I know that my Church doesn't consider it wrong to not employ extreme measures to keep a person alive when he is close to death, so to me it's just a tiny bit bigger step to speed up the process to relieve suffering. I probably could not make a decision of that kind concerning one of my own loved ones, but I would definitely not criticize someone else who decided that euthanasia would be the answer.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

I really struggle with this question. I know that I would be going against the doctrines of my Church to vote "yes," but deep down I believe that there are times when it would be okay with God. We euthanize our pets and this is because we love them and don't want them to suffer when there is no hope that they will recover. I've never been able to figure out why we can't show this same compassion towards our fellow humans. Yes, I know... Miracles happen and we can never know with an absolute certainty that God would not intervene and the person's life be spared after all. So that's an issue that has to be considered, at least by someone who believes in the Abrahamic God. I know that my Church doesn't consider it wrong to not employ extreme measures to keep a person alive when he is close to death, so to me it's just a tiny bit bigger step to speed up the process to relieve suffering. I probably could not make a decision of that kind concerning one of my own loved ones, but I would definitely not criticize someone else who decided that euthanasia would be the answer.

Saul asked to be killed and the soldier helped him out. His out come was death. I agree with you on all your points, i would hate to see a person suffer but Who draws the line.

 

[McBell]

Saul asked to be killed and the soldier helped him out. His out come was death. I agree with you on all your points, i would hate to see a person suffer but Who draws the line.

How about the one doing the suffering?

 

[michel]

It might be a little difficult to draw the line on who to kill and who to keep alive. It's something that should be decided between the doctor and patient, or whoever has the legal right to decide for the patient if the patient is unconsious. I don't know if pain is really a reason to euthenize someone. Usually pain is just temporary, or can be managed one way or another. I just don't see the point in keeping a brain dead persons heart beating for decades.

Well, there are cases, and then there are others (which is why we really need to be so careful with this sort of "morality")

I once saw a TV interview with a girl (strapped into a wheelchair), and her parents.

The girl had been badly hurt in some sort of of accident,; the doctors had declared her "Brain stem died" - IE Total vegetative State.

The parents had been asked for their permission to switch off the machine; one consented,the other one refused. So the girl lay in hospital, kept alive artificially for 7 years.

One day, one of the doctors noticed that the girl's eyelids were opening and closing. After tests, they found that she no longer needed to be on life support, and that her eyelid opening and closing was as a result of her trying to get attention.

Her entire body was paralyzed; she had no control - except for her eyelids. The doctors managed to understand that she could communicate, by answers Yes/No (one blink or two).

The interviewer turned to the girl in the interview and asked her "Do you wish to live"; she blinked "yes" - I cannot tell you how, or why, but she seemed forceful in the way she blinked.

When she was asked "Do you wish that your parents had had the machine switched off, she said "No" - again, with passion.

I once asked a psychologist why should the girl have wanted to live, as she was ?

He replied "Easy, one of the things that makes us enjoy and appreciate life is having one's needs met; just think.........her needs are that she should be cared for, in every way, and her needs are met; therefore, she may well feel happier that you do."

The other problem with Euthanasia is that the decision could only ever be made by the person who wants to die, and more than one doctor (to substantiate the action after). have tried to kill myself before; the reason was that I was determined that I did not want to live any more.

(Obviously) I didn't succeed; am I glad to still be here? In some ways yes, in some, I still wish that I had died, but in others, I am glad that I did not.

At the time of making my decision in the past I was "Of unsound mind"; i.e I was not in a fit state to make the decision. Had Euthanasia been legal, I would have gone for it like a shot, I was very, very ill (mentally - which, believe me, an be just as painful and unbearable as physically).

I am -in some ways -glad that Euthanasia was not legal when I made that choice.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

How about the one doing the suffering?

So so true... I whole heartedly agree with you. The question that I've answered for myself is suicided right?

 

[YmirGF]

I voted that it WAS a moral decision because it ultimately addresses "quality of life". The last two years of his life my father wasted away till he was a shell of his former self. He simply did not want to live anymore and modern medicine was keeping him alive. People tend for forget about "quality" and dwell on "quantity" for the sake of quantity. If you see this happen to one you love you will understand what I am meaning and you would give them the right to choose -- if it is unarguably their last wish.

 

[Burning Giraffe]

So, how about it? Is euthanasia for humans moral? Do you personally find it to be something completely moral or completely immoral? Right or wrong?

Forcing someone to stay alive and suffer is cruel. We don't do that with our pets, why would we do that with ourselves?

 

[Magic Man]

I voted that it is a good thing. Obviously, it's not something to be taken lightly, and should only be used in extreme situations, but as others have said, if someone honestly wants to die when they have major problems which have no hope of being fixed, then let them have what they want.

The problem that Michel brought up is the soundness of the person's mind, which is why it gets legally tricky. The euthanizer says "But he wanted to die", and the response is "How did you know that the person was of sound mind?". This is a problem for the reasons he stated, but I would say that mental illness is not reason enough to euthanize, meaning that, if you're in perfect physical health, or at least good enough, then euthanization is not an option, no matter how much you want it.

I'd be interested to see where the people who are against the death penalty fall on this issue.

 

[Charity]

If you have a family member that is dying and in such pain and agony that every breath is torment for them and they look at you and say " Please help me, stop this pain, end it for me". What do you do?

If you do what they request, can you live with the guilt, knowing you took their life. For in the moment of pain they requested something that they may never would have asked you to do. ( I'm saying that the pain was so great that they were beyond making a reasonable judgement) Even though they probably would die soon, have we taken the power of life and death in our own hands..........I personally could not live with this. I watched my mom die and even though she had become a person that I didn't even recognize, a person who had lost her dignity and idenity, and I knew would not have wanted to live this way. I chose to pray for strength for myself and my mom and leave it to God. For the remainder of her alloted time she became comatose and died peacefully a week later...........

Once again this is up to each individual, each person's circumstances are different and we shouldn't condemn anyone, that is not our job.

In memory of my Mom
Charity

 

[Draka]

I do like that a couple people here have brought up the issue of pets. That is something I have always thought about as well. We show our family cat or dog mercy and compassion when they are so sick and suffering and in constant pain that we take them to get a simple shot to let them drift off to sleep and not wake up again. Why can't we show our grandfather or our favorite aunt this same compassion and mercy?

I do believe that euthanasia is moral.

 

[Aqualung]

I really struggle with this question. I know that I would be going against the doctrines of my Church to vote "yes,"

On suicide, they say that suicide is generally wrong but only God can know what the person was going through at the time, and thus it's not our place to judge. In fact,

Although it is wrong to take one's own life, a person who commits suicide may not be responsible for his or her acts. Only God can judge such a matter. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said: "Obviously, we do not know the full circumstances surrounding every suicide. Only the Lord knows all the details, and he it is who will judge our actions here on earth. "When he does judge us, I feel he will take all things into consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received, the traditions of our fathers, our health, and so forth" ("Suicide: Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not," Ensign, Oct. 1987

I happen to think positions on eutanasia would probably be similar.

 

[lilithu]

So, how about it? Is euthanasia for humans moral? Do you personally find it to be something completely moral or completely immoral? Right or wrong?

WHO is making the decision?

 

[UnTheist]

As long as the individual who would be euthanastized agrees to it, I have no argument against it.