At sometime in the future could Pennsylvania consider euthanasia? (felons, transfer)

[fisheye]

My mother died just about one month ago. Don't feel sorry for me; we just had services and we celebrated her life and not her death. She was 91 and had several strokes and could no longer communicate. Then she fell and broke her hip and the hospital did not want to operated because of her age and physical condition. So she was transferred to a hospice. There she lasted two days before she died. We were happy that she was no longer suffering. It is terrible to watch your loved ones suffer and you are impotent.

This was not the first time that I have watched as loved ones died. My father fell off a ladder and became comatose. Eventually he was transferred to a hospice and died three days latter. My grandfather fell on the ice and hit his head and my grandmother had cancer - both were transferred to hospice and died. I have also had aunts and uncles in the same predicament.

The hospice basically tries to keep our loved ones out of pain until the end. Usually they can no longer feed themselves by the time they are admitted. Our physicians will sometime order the feeding tubes to be removed, if they have had feeding tubes, and the patients slowly die from starvation. In my mother's case she had signed a Do Not Resuscitate order (when in sound mind and before a lawyer) and she specifically stated she did not want any antibiotics administered when she could no longer ask for them.

Our medical establishment currently allows 'starvation' as the only legal means to euthanize Pennsylvanians. Of course they do not call it euthanasia. They claim the our elderly are not suffering in their final days and that they feel no pain. However; they are not in our elderly's shoes at the time they make that claim. I feel that we treat our pets and dangerous felons to a better death.

Right now there are six states that have approved some form of euthanasia. Here is one link to an organization that supports death with dignity: Euthanasia - ProCon.org. I would like to keep the discussion focused on whether Pennsylvanians would ever consider legislation like the other six states have passed? I know that we have religious and medical objections; but time and attitudes are changing. Many of us would like to have a peaceful, painless death as our time nears.

If we stray too far off topic our moderators will shut us down and move this thread. Please try to keep focused on whether this if good (or not good) for PA now or in the future.

[Gerania]

They could, but they're never first in line to do anything. Or even nineteenth or twentieth. Will they? I hope the state would do what the majority wanted, but I'm not going to hold my breath hoping that they might do something even a little progressive.

My mother spent her last week in a hospice facility. She, too, had a DNR which stated no medications, food or fluids. No guesswork there? I couldn't find the paperwork for a few days, but she'd spoken with her family doctor about it and shown her the document. Similar situation with my father. His health wasn't that good the last two years, but he was OK--until the last three months. I found that pretty difficult to watch. His last week in cardiac ICU wasn't that bad. I didn't have to hope for intervention. Really, there may have been some. They could have kept him alive longer if that had been the goal. It wasn't.

The worst thing I've seen was a friend of ours who was slowly, slowly wasting from Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. Though he was visibly wasting, deteriorating, he felt well enough to go out a couple of times a week--until some sort of law was passed which required his doctor to send him to a pain management center. They didn't manage his pain, which brings up another issue: assisted suicide. He might have welcomed that.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Gerania

They could, but they're never first in line to do anything. Or even nineteenth or twentieth. Will they? I hope the state would do what the majority wanted, but I'm not going to hold my breath hoping that they might do something even a little progressive.

My mother spent her last week in a hospice facility. She, too, had a DNR which stated no medications, food or fluids. No guesswork there? I couldn't find the paperwork for a few days, but she'd spoken with her family doctor about it and shown her the document. Similar situation with my father. His health wasn't that good the last two years, but he was OK--until the last three months. I found that pretty difficult to watch. His last week in cardiac ICU wasn't that bad. I didn't have to hope for intervention. Really, there may have been some. They could have kept him alive longer if that had been the goal. It wasn't.

The worst thing I've seen was a friend of ours who was slowly, slowly wasting from Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. Though he was visibly wasting, deteriorating, he felt well enough to go out a couple of times a week--until some sort of law was passed which required his doctor to send him to a pain management center. They didn't manage his pain, which brings up another issue: assisted suicide. He might have welcomed that.

Many of us would welcome not ending our last days in pain. It isn't only that; I still do not see the difference between starving a person to death and helping them cross over with the right painless cocktail - except the one is painless and quick. But these decisions have to be made when the individual is of sound mind - they cannot be made for the individual after they can no longer communicate.

Yes, we have many conservative beliefs in PA. But we are growing and learning; even if is at a snail's pace. We changed our laws and now allow medical marijuana - which never would have happened just one or two decades ago. The internet has brought us together and is an 'education' in it's own respect. When I was young I had no idea how people died in Pennsylvania. I thought that our hospices were simply hospitals for the elderly that could no longer care for themselves (like a nursing home). Of course, when we are young, we are immortal and never contemplate the end. As we age and watch our friends and loved ones die; it is only natural to ask if there might be a better way.

I am curious if there have been any attempts in our State to introduce any of this Death with Dignity legislation?