Should Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide be openly allowed?

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This being the third time in my 23 years of existence that I've had to care for a dying person, I'm beginning to wonder why Euthanasia is not legal in many places. In each case, the person I've cared for has stated repeatedly they're ready to die, and at least in two of the cases, they dealt with chronic pain. We are currently dealing with a woman who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and was expected to live 6 months. Now, 2 and a half years later, she's accomplished all of her "Bucket List" items, and her existence is now limited to taking medicine, and laying in bed watching "Law and Order" waiting to die. She's miserable, and declared she's ready, but still she lies there.

Is anyone else accepting to the idea, that an adult, with consent, should be allowed to end their lives? I especially see this in a situation regarding the terminally ill, but I could understand if a fit young adult could go down to an office, and "Apply for termination" or something. After a probationary period, where they must prove they have tried to make things better, if they are still willing, someone will come out and help them tie up their affairs and end it.

Even barring the non-terminally ill, how does everyone else feel about this? We treat our animals with such respect, why not people?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1733803/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... le4392696/

Yeah I think so I might sound like a prick but you know what people should have a choice to end their own lives if they feel like its the answer to everything! I have felt like that time and time again but have had people interfere with it and having me stat in a mental institution for a few days and suicide counselling.

I'm not for a doctor being allowed to do it because I fear the "slippery slope" that could happen if doctors were given permission to do it. Doctors in the USA already do something like this under the table when they know a person is terminal. They typically increase pain meds to hasten the dying process in the name of "alleviating suffering."

However, if a person wants to end their own life because of medical issues, I can't say they should be prohibited from doing so. If they adequately document that ending their life is what they want to do and why, someone close (non medical person) entrusted to help them do it (in cases where they can't "push the button" on their own) should not be prosecuted for it.

There is a slippery slope, in Belgium they kill children and the mentally ill.

I believe it is a violation of their Hippocratic oath, doctors should never kill intentionally,

I wouldn't stop someone from Euthenizing me if I wanted it but then again im not in the right state of mind right now. Too many people would be sad if I did maybe assisted suicide should only be legal for those already dying to proven people like me making decisions too soon and I would no longer be around because I would be dead.

Last edited by AspieOtaku on 21 May 2014, 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

For why? Do you have a source for that info as Belgium tends to strike me as a civilized nation...so I find it a little hard to believe they are regularly killing children and the mentally ill.

I say if someone is dying and in pain, the decent thing to do is give them the option to be put out of their misery...though if that person can't communicate that might be a little difficult. But yeah I remember a part of a book I had to read for a highschool english class it was a war novel and so at one point someone was dying from mustard gas and some fairly nasty wounds and so a couple people wanted to just shoot him and put him out of his misery but then the higher ups in the military came and they couldn't or they would have gotten in trouble but this person was dying anyways and obviously suffering greatly so yeah I agree with the characters in the book that where going to put him out of his misery....of course the dying character was in no condition to speak and say 'please kill me' but I think its safe to say they wouldn't have complained had they been put out of their misery.

As for mental health issues causing sucidial feelings, I don't really support assisted suicide....having been there myself I am glad I wasn't encouraged to have help offing myself but rather prevention from self harm till I was in a somewhat better place mentally. I mean I will admit there are times sometimes I wish I had succeed but that is typically when I feel suicidal. But yeah if someone is suicidal over mental health reasons they are in a vulnerable place and probably more want the pain to end than to die....so to me it would be sick if doctors gave people in such a vulnerable state of mind the option of assisted suicide since they should help them with the issue causing the suicidal feelings.

http://rt.com/news/belgium-king-sign-eu ... -bill-566/

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/vie ... other_died

I don't believe prolonging suffering beyond what is natural if that is the patient's choice but euthanasia has no place in the medical field imo.

Yeah I think that is taking things too far, seems like they should make the law a bit stricter...to exclude people who are physically healthy or don't have like a chronic illness that will cause death, seems like the way the law is worded it is open to quite a bit of interpretation. I don't necessarily disagree with euthenization of a child dying of some chronic illness in severe pain who shouldn't be forced to suffer that. But yeah I don't think mental illness is a good reason for that since typically if someone becomes suicidal they aren't likely to be thinking very rationally...so I certainly disagree with that.

Not enough options in the poll so I didn't vote.
I personally could care less if someone wants to off themselves. It's their choice, clear minded or not.
I do have an issue with a doctor having a direct hand in it, be it assisted suicide or youth-in-Asia.

For old people or people with certain illnesses yes. However someone killing themselves just because "their life sucks" is not a good enough excuse. Under severe depression I thought of killing myself. However I'm glad I didn't considering people do love me. There is no guarantee there is a god or an afterlife. So life live to its fullest and don't dwell on the past.

HA! Another sector already bought up by big pharma! This is just another example of corporations literally trying to squeeze money out of you as you die. The entire "euthanasia" thing in america has already been bought up. Compaines are waiting in the wings to start making massive amounts of money off this.

The same people who want to be able to profit off killing you don't think you should be allowed to smoke marijuana while more deadly cigarettes are perfectly legal. But they will sure as hell sell you some expensive ass emphysema and cancer medicine. You might want to think about that for a while before deciding on this. If this were a reality it would not be allowed to benefit YOU, its just another way for the medical industry to cash in.

I would say that they might be able to "make a killing" off the 22 vets who kill them selfs every day, but then the vets would just end up having to wait months and months for that also if it was through the VA!

I am for legalization, under certain circumstances. Its anyway already practiced in a certain way in my country. When my sister friend, that had stomach cancer, decided that she wanted to be her last days at home within family, she was as well allowed to have her pain medication with her for a week. (After a week she needed to get a new recipe, that was again for a week.) With that she became instruction as how to use it correctly, and as well "how to not use it", because she asked for that. So if its actually anyway already done, in agreement with the patients wants, then why not make it legal.

I do like the suiss system (they are already practicing legally). If you decide that you want to practice suicide, then you first need to talk to an therapist, to prove that you are really convinced of your desicion, and that it is not done out of an depression in the moment, or because of someone pushing you... so there must be serious reason for it, like an horrible painful illness... If that goes ok, then an independent lawsperson and another one, that you determine yourself, need to be present to prove, that everything went correctly. Nurses then prepare everything, and its the patient himself, that causes everything to start with the push on a button.

when it becomes legal I will be first in line to order the do-it-yourself home version kit, or whatever anyone wants to call it. Can't happen soon enough.

Euthanasia - No
Suicide Assistance - With rules that assure the person is untreatable and able to make an informed decision.

I wouldn't like to be the person in charge of implementing any laws or policies regarding euthanasia or assisted suicide, but as someone who has Alzheimers in the family - if I even begin to succumb to that particular disease later in life I'll be making damn sure I die on my own terms before I lose the capacity to commit suicide.

Sometimes I wonder if it would have been kinder to smother my grandmother to death, rather than letting herself waste away, unable to take care of her most basic bodily functions, not knowing who she was or even recognising her children. What a miserable, lonely death.