Should there be a right to die?

[Twilight Hue]

This is a reverse perspective on the thread Right to live.

If a person wants to die, should they have the right to do so?

 

[Brickjectivity]

This is a reverse perspective on the thread Right to live.

If a person wants to die, should they have the right to do so?

There already is a right to die. Everyone has that right, no matter what the government says. That's my opinion about it.

Here is an argument: if you have no right to die then you have no recourse if your life is absolute agony and confusion. In nature an animal that is in permanent pain either dies, starves or is eaten. That is because agony causes a severe dysfunction. It is the ultimate distraction which in nature leads to death and announces death.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die and someone enslaves you, then you have no choice but to uphold the institutions of slavery. It can be argued that it would be more ethical to die than to uphold that institution. If freedom is good, then for sake of freedom death is preferable to enslavement.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die you can be made to kill, because you can be threatened with death if you don't kill.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die then your life belongs not to you but to society, because society can kill you but you cannot kill yourself.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die it erodes your negative right to pursuit of happiness, hence if you have a right to pursuit of happiness then you also have a right to die.

 

[Aštra’el]

The ability to die is a blessing, a mercy, and one we are all born with. I would not say it “should” or “should not” be a right, but I am glad it is an inevitability.

If this is about a government granting the legal option to be euthanized, I approve either way, whatever the law might be. I understand how precious life is… but I might also understand and respect a person’s decision to let go and leave this world behind.

 

[Viker]

I believe the autonomous right of our lives and bodies are to be inviolable, with very few exceptions. In that, we ultimately should decide rather we live or die.

 

[danieldemol]

This is a reverse perspective on the thread Right to live.

If a person wants to die, should they have the right to do so?

I think people should be able to be euthanised if they want to.

In my opinion.

 

[stvdv]

This is a reverse perspective on the thread Right to live.

If a person wants to die, should they have the right to do so?

100% YES

 

[crossfire]

Death is part of life.

 

[sun rise]

I assume "right to die" means "right to assisted suicide" in the OP. True?

As far as the right to die goes, I knew a women in her 80's who spent a lot of retirement years helping children in hospitals deal with their pain and suffering and too often with the pain that came from parents who could not tolerate their child's suffering and turned away.

At some point she was stopped from her volunteer job at which point she decided her life was over and basically died with no drugs - just an act of will.

I knew that was going on and felt totally that it was her decision and I should honor it.

 

[Shaul]

This discussion will hit a dead end.

 

[We Never Know]

There already is a right to die. Everyone has that right, no matter what the government says. That's my opinion about it.

Here is an argument: if you have no right to die then you have no recourse if your life is absolute agony and confusion. In nature an animal that is in permanent pain either dies, starves or is eaten. That is because agony causes a severe dysfunction. It is the ultimate distraction which in nature leads to death and announces death.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die and someone enslaves you, then you have no choice but to uphold the institutions of slavery. It can be argued that it would be more ethical to die than to uphold that institution. If freedom is good, then for sake of freedom death is preferable to enslavement.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die you can be made to kill, because you can be threatened with death if you don't kill.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die then your life belongs not to you but to society, because society can kill you but you cannot kill yourself.

Here is an argument: If you have no right to die it erodes your negative right to pursuit of happiness, hence if you have a right to pursuit of happiness then you also have a right to die.

Should they have the right to be aided.
Dr Kevorkian for example.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Should they have the right to be aided.
Dr Kevorkian for example.

If it clearly is their choice then yes. But that can be a problem. By the time that we are dying our ability to communicate clearly can be gone.

It can be quite a mess.

But if a person had a cancer that was inoperable and one's life was just endless pain I would see nothing wrong in someone helping that person shuffle off this moral coil.

 

[Estro Felino]

If it clearly is their choice then yes. But that can be a problem. By the time that we are dying our ability to communicate clearly can be gone.

It can be quite a mess.

But if a person had a cancer that was inoperable and one's life was just endless pain I would see nothing wrong in someone helping that person shuffle off this moral coil.

Which can be solved by mandatory biological will, in which the citizen declares in advance what they are going to do, when they are unable to express their own consent.

It already exists in my country. Mandatory will. But since euthanasia is not legal yet , it is about organs donation only

 

[Subduction Zone]

Which can be solved by mandatory biological will, in which the citizen declares in advance what they are going to do, when they are unable to express their own consent.

It already exists in my country. Mandatory will. But since euthanasia is not legal yet , it is about organs donation only

We have that here too. But if one does not have the paperwork hand and an accident happens it is highly likely that it will not be followed. Unless someone can dig it up and present it tot he doctors it will not be heeded. Sitting in a drawer it does little to no good at all.

My father had one, but when he had his accident that was totally forgotten about. They may have gone to far to save him. But whenever I asked him if he was happy he almost always said yes. That lessened my guilt a bit.

EDIT: I have heard EMT's joking that one should have it tattooed on one's chest. They are the ones that have to rescue people unless presented with paper work.

 

[We Never Know]

We have that here too. But if one does not have the paperwork hand and an accident happens it is highly likely that it will not be followed. Unless someone can dig it up and present it tot he doctors it will not be heeded. Sitting in a drawer it does little to no good at all.

My father had one, but when he had his accident that was totally forgotten about. They may have gone to far to save him. But whenever I asked him if he was happy he almost always said yes. That lessened my guilt a bit.

EDIT: I have heard EMT's joking that one should have it tattooed on one's chest. They are the ones that have to rescue people unless presented with paper work.

If a DNR is in ones medical records it shouldn't be hard to find.

 

[Estro Felino]

If a DNR is in ones medical records it should be hard to find.

In 2022 anything is digitalized.
If I disposed organs donations when I am dead, the physician will just have access to this data on the net.

 

[Heyo]

This is a reverse perspective on the thread Right to live.

If a person wants to die, should they have the right to do so?

They already have that.

But you mean the right to assisted suicide, right?
No, nobody should be forced to kill another person, even if they ask for it.

So you really mean, should a person have the right to assist another person in suicide?
That's more a right to kill than a right to die. The dead person can't be made responsible anyway.
Yes, I think assisting in suicide should not be illegal (with a lot of red tape to insure the will to die was not coerced, made with a clear mind and is persistent over time).

 

[Twilight Hue]

I assume "right to die" means "right to assisted suicide" in the OP. True?

As far as the right to die goes, I knew a women in her 80's who spent a lot of retirement years helping children in hospitals deal with their pain and suffering and too often with the pain that came from parents who could not tolerate their child's suffering and turned away.

At some point she was stopped from her volunteer job at which point she decided her life was over and basically died with no drugs - just an act of will.

I knew that was going on and felt totally that it was her decision and I should honor it.

No. It is ones right to die by his or her own hand.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

This is a reverse perspective on the thread Right to live.

If a person wants to die, should they have the right to do so?

In Denmark you do have that right, but it is a limited right, that only applies in some cases.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Should they have the right to be aided.
Dr Kevorkian for example.

Its more difficult to argue that to be a right. Its a privilege to have a painless death.

The problem with aided death is that it is legally possible to murder a person and then claim you were assisting them in dying. The government also may try to get rid of annoying citizens this way. You can say that would never happen, but it has already happened before. I think governments can't be given a gray area. Doctors either. Doctors are technical experts, but doctors are people not passionless. Imagine if doctors had the legal power to kill anyone. Its a different sort of doctor.

 

[Subduction Zone]

If a DNR is in ones medical records it shouldn't be hard to find.

A Living Will is much more than just a DNR. I do not think that my father was ever at that point. A Living Will tells people how far they can go in attempting to keep you alive. For a short time my father was tube fed, That may have been more than he wanted. A living will includes what sort of life support. At the end of my Dad's life we did make sure that we honored it. His brain had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer swallow. He had progressed through various stages of thickened water as his reflex left him until he was at the point where nothing more could be done. Without tube feeding and IV fluids all of the time he was doomed. But that was what he wanted. Comfort methods only were allowed so there was no problem giving him morphine.

Living Wills | Washington State.