Euthanasia is NOT playing GOD...

[KittenSparkles]

There is a good documentary on this topic on the PBS website - it profiles a man who had ALS who chose to go to Switzerland where he could receive medical euthanasia.
The Suicide Tourist | FRONTLINE | PBS

I personally believe that adults should have the right to end their own life if they so choose and that a peaceful means should be available to those with chronic, progressive, painful, and/or terminal diseases.

I have read that in Oregon, where people with terminal conditions can be approved to receive a medication that will kill them, that more people sign up for the pill than actually use it. Knowing that they have that ability to CHOOSE to go if it ever gets so bad relieves a great deal of their mental anguish...and then end up sticking around until the disease takes them out instead.

Makes a lot of sense to me.

People with severe mental health issues such as life-long depression, schizophrenia, etc, - well that becomes more challenging to make a decision on.

But I always ask the question: why should anyone else get to make the decision as to how long a person is supposed to live? If I knew someone had endured years of suffering and wanted out, it would pain me greatly to know that, but would it be right for me to insist that they keep living just because I don't want them to die?

Interesting questions to ponder I think.

[Dreams2Plans]

Originally Posted by E E

There is a good documentary on this topic on the PBS website - it profiles a man who had ALS who chose to go to Switzerland where he could receive medical euthanasia.
The Suicide Tourist | FRONTLINE | PBS

I personally believe that adults should have the right to end their own life if they so choose and that a peaceful means should be available to those with chronic, progressive, painful, and/or terminal diseases.

I have read that in Oregon, where people with terminal conditions can be approved to receive a medication that will kill them, that more people sign up for the pill than actually use it. Knowing that they have that ability to CHOOSE to go if it ever gets so bad relieves a great deal of their mental anguish...and then end up sticking around until the disease takes them out instead.

I agree wholeheartedly with both.
I hope that one day, people will be more open to the idea... and that at some point, we americans can have a vote whether medical euthanasia should be allowed. So that it will!!!

It has to be a right

[KittenSparkles]

There is an organization in the US that provides a peaceful means to people with severe, incurable health issues (medical documents will be reviewed by their organization first) .... you don't have to be terminal. I am not sure if I can post it here. If you want the info, DM me.

I think over the next 10-20 years we are going to see more and more openness to this issue - we now have so much medical technology available that many middle aged people are witnessing what happens when elders are just kept alive for years or even decades because they can be ... and those folks are thinking, this is not what I want for myself. Those are the people who are going to be looking for an alternative.

This should not be a taboo topic. It should be something we can discuss freely and openly. Death is a part of life. Would anyone TRULY choose a death that involved horrific suffering over days or weeks if a completely peaceful method was available to them?

Why not use our wonderful modern medical technology for our own benefit? We extend this to our pets and to those on death row ... but the rest of us are just expected to tough it out to the bitter end?

[Dreams2Plans]

Originally Posted by grindlemeister

So, a person who is deemed "mentally ill" shouldn't have the autonomy to end his or her life. If a schizophrenic wants to end his life, and thereby end the nightmare of that condition, who are we to stop him? Who determines if he or she is lucid enough to make an important decision relating to his or her destiny? Maybe a person like that doesn't want to live with such a condition or continue a life of taking medicine. Again, that should be up to the person that's suffering, regardless of some arbitrary judgement involving his lucidity in the matter.

Admittedly, I hold the unpopular opinion that even if a person isn't terminally ill or debilitated, and they STILL want to end their lives, they should be allowed to, despite protestations from people who say this violates the Hippocratic Oath by not "curing" him of whatever mental condition THEY think he has.

If someone wants to die -- sick or not -- that person should be able to. Now whether the state should pay for assisted suicide or not, that's a different matter. But if the person wants to pay for his own passing, who are we to force him to stay here? Maybe he doesn't enjoy life like the rest of us and is bored. Yes, I even believe that boredom is a good enough reason to terminate one's life. A rational person COULD make that decision. But only HE OR SHE can make such a decision. It's his or her life. Period. And that person should have absolute control over the matter, not any of us.

Moderator cut: Off Topic

I see it only as win-win: the suffering person can go peacefully (even taking the responsibility off those "assisting" by taking whatever steps necessary him/herself), the family and healthcare are not forced to pay millions for hopeless cases (taking away the funds and hope from those actually willing to fight), the relatives and loved ones don't have to see the endless suffering and experience endless agony along with that person...