Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide

[Oddquine]

Kelly Taylor, a 30-year-old terminally ill woman, has launched a legal case to force doctors to allow her to die.

I watched this today and she appeared to be a sensible adult who felt that she had no quality of life and had tried more than once in the past to kill herself.

I have long said that if got something like Alzheimer's, and hadn't managed to kill myself before my mind went completely, I'd expect my children to ensure I didn't hang around taking up space I didn't know I was occupying.

Having a high pain threshold, I'm not sure about killing myself because of not hacking pain.........but having seen people die from bone cancer, I'm not sure that even I could bear that level of pain for any length of time.

How important to members is life as opposed to life with some quality?

I am not talking about disabled children here..............but what you would like to do if you were in the position of having next to no quality of life, and your family would accept your right to decide your own future.

[danc1ngwitch]

I think that life is so special, but in a case like this we should have the right to go peacefully in our home with family around.
It is legal in some countries ( i think ) as i do not know much about this.

[stratman]

I'd expect my children to ensure I didn't hang around taking up space I didn't know I was occupying.

I, without doubt, believe in professionally assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

[DarkAngel]

I, without doubt, believe in professionally assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

I also 100% agree with you there!

What quality of life does the future hold for them?


Freedom of choice,,And id certainly want to go somewhere thats peacfull and i would not suffer pain.

[sam]

I believe she should be allowed to die legally assisted, No one should have to suffer when they know there is no hope for them to recover.

[lassieinfife]

We don't let animals suffer so why should humans suffer.?.....if the person in question is compos mentis I don't see why they cant decide that enough is enough and be allowed to die with dignity

[johno]

yes i also agree, if she is in constant pain with little or no quality of life she should be allowed to slip away peacefully and with dignity when the right time comes. god knows we would do it for a sufferlng animal would,nt we.

[North Rhins]

Lassieinfife, I couldn’t agree more with you. When an animal is in pain or is suffering we do the ‘decent’ and ‘humane’ thing and relieve them of their misery and suffering. When it comes to a fellow human being we appear to have a fit of righteousness. There are other countries that allow euthanasia I think it’s about time we forgot our British reserve and sought guidance from them. Who are we, as a society, to deny a person a dignified end to what may well be a living hell. I just pray to God that I am never in that position.

[caithness lad]

i watched my friend die of cancer the latter days were not nice to say the least. i say let people die in dignity if they wish.

[henry20]

Yes, I would want to have an assisted suicide if I was suffering - I think it would be better for me and my family. I have seen people suffering right to the bitter end and its tough to watch knowing you can't do anything.

[Alice in Blunderland]

Okay I am going to play devils advocate here..... If the patient goes to court and it finds in favour that it is her right to demand the doctor overdoses her with drugs so as to kill her......what right does the doctor have to refuse as he is technically murdering someone.....He knows that through his overdosing the patient they are going to die....

I agree dignity in our final days but this is a very dodgy area for some in the medical proffession.

I noticed in the interview that there was a cupboard full of painkillers and various other medications that if concocted together one evening before going to bed guaranteed she would not be alive in the morning.....no need for a doctor there.

Yes some in the medical proffession would allow the drugs to be administered but some may not be able to cope with being knowingly responsible for someone elses death. A hard one for any court to come to a decision on.

It is true that no-one should suffer in the way that is being described.

So should we force the doctor or allow loving family to carry this out without fear of prosecution? I dont know.

[squidge]

I think it is a thin thin line. I dont know how you legislate for it. I too have seen people suffer and be in terrible pain and unable to speak or eat and i wouldnt wish that on anyone but its a difficult choice to allow someone to assist a person to die. Allowing her to slip away is a different issue, not resuscitating, not carrying out life saving procedures is different but actually taking steps to help someone die is too far in my eyes.

[newpark]

I, without doubt, believe in professionally assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

I agree, a vet wouldn't think twice about putting a dog down if it was in pain due to illness or if the animal had no quality of life left so why are humans not granted the same respect. Once I lost control of my mind and bodily functions it's time to go.

[Penelope Pitstop]

Okay I am going to play devils advocate here..... If the patient goes to court and it finds in favour that it is her right to demand the doctor overdoses her with drugs so as to kill her......what right does the doctor have to refuse as he is technically murdering someone.....He knows that through his overdosing the patient they are going to die....

Vets do this all the time. If they left an animal to suffer they (or the owners) would no doubt be prosecuted for it?

I agree dignity in our final days but this is a very dodgy area for some in the medical proffession.

I noticed in the interview that there was a cupboard full of painkillers and various other medications that if concocted together one evening before going to bed guaranteed she would not be alive in the morning.....no need for a doctor there.

I think someone trying to do it themselves is very dodgy ground. Unless you are medically trained how do you know how much drug to administer - too much and you could make the person suffer an even worse death and too little may also leave them worse - maybe in vegative state.

Yes some in the medical proffession would allow the drugs to be administered but some may not be able to cope with being knowingly responsible for someone elses death. A hard one for any court to come to a decision on.

It is true that no-one should suffer in the way that is being described.

So should we force the doctor or allow loving family to carry this out without fear of prosecution? I dont know.

I have someone very close to me (more physically disabled that miss x) who sometimes becomes so fed with their situation that on occasion cries for someone to end it. This is very upsetting believe me. Only someone who is involved in someones care 24 hours a day 7 days a week will know what the stress entails. For the person's carer to have an added burden of assisted suicide is not fair on them. Devoting many years of their life to the care of a loved one only to possibly find themselves doing many more years in prison for carrying out a loved one's last wishes......

Other countries have managed to successfully regulate assisted suicide why can't our country? Obviously this will not suit everyone, but those that WOULD like to choose that route should have it open to them.

[katarina]

I have watched three terminally ill family members die and suffer great distress for weeks before finally falling into thankful unconsciousness. I watched my dog die quickly and painlessly when the end of her life had come, thanks to a vet's injection. I know which I would rather.

[Glenys Hirst]

People with terminal illnesses need not die in pain...with the appropriate nursing intervention this can be avoided in many cases...Macmillian Nurses,admission to a hospice. I work in a nursing home for people with learning disabilities and have nursed 3 people with a terminal illness and they passed away peacefully in the home. We are however fortunate here that we have access to the local hospice,and a specialist cancer ward at the hospital.

[Billy Boy]

I, without doubt, believe in professionally assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

i have to agree with this as well,but only without doubt the said person was of sound mind at the time,i know personaly if i was in that postion i would not want my family to stand by and watch me fade away:(

[katarina]

to Glenis
My family members died peacefully with all the modern medications. The distress was before they reached the stage of having the wonderful 'pump' put in place. With all due respect, brilliant though the nurses are, and they are, until you experience this yourself, you will not know what goes on behind closed doors 24/7.

[Glenys Hirst]

To Katarina,
I appreciate what you are saying here..Having a excellent cancer support down here in Yorkshire we are so fortunate indeed. The local hospice provides excellent support for all the family concerned right from the beginning with all aspects of the care eg pain relief..before the family member gets distressed...Its a same the nearest hospice is at Inverness..Am I right?

Previous reply sent before I'd finished..Sorry..am no good on computors!

[Penelope Pitstop]

People with terminal illnesses need not die in pain...with the appropriate nursing intervention this can be avoided in many cases...Macmillian Nurses,admission to a hospice. I work in a nursing home for people with learning disabilities and have nursed 3 people with a terminal illness and they passed away peacefully in the home. We are however fortunate here that we have access to the local hospice,and a specialist cancer ward at the hospital.


You're right people with terminal illness/conditions need not and should not die in pain.

Unfortunately some people are trapped within their bodies, i.e. mentally alert but with a body that doesn't work. Death can be 20 to 40 years away from when they are first diagnosed with their condition. Should these people not be allowed to make provision for how they choose to die before they get to a stage in their condition where they cannot?

For people with certain conditions there are no MacMillan nurses for them, as they don't have cancer. By the way, the MacMillan nurses do a fantastic job in Caithness.

[Ricco]

I am allowed to choose my job, my partner in life, to have children (or not), to defend my home / family / country, to buy a beer or a curry, to drive in whatever direction I choose, to vote one pack of idiots after another as rulers of the country.. and I strongly feel that if my quality of life had disappeared and that there was no possible hope for improvement then I should be permitted to choose my future pathway, even if it meant closure.

[Oddquine]

I think it is a thin thin line. I dont know how you legislate for it. I too have seen people suffer and be in terrible pain and unable to speak or eat and i wouldnt wish that on anyone but its a difficult choice to allow someone to assist a person to die. Allowing her to slip away is a different issue, not resuscitating, not carrying out life saving procedures is different but actually taking steps to help someone die is too far in my eyes.

But that is what the lady in question wants.............enough medication to put and keep her in a coma, and not to be fed etc but allowed to slip away.

My brother had oesophagal cancer which spread into his bones. He suffered a horrendous amount of pain to stay at home before giving in and going into hospital in Aberdeen. In the ten days there before he died, his pain was not controlled for one second, because they could not give him enough for the pain without the danger of killing him. They were unable to give him even bed baths for that time, because he could not bear to be moved at all.

I think enough medication to put him in a coma would have been a kindness, and if it had killed him, it would have been, for him, a blessing.

[Cinders392]

I think it is a thin thin line. I dont know how you legislate for it. I too have seen people suffer and be in terrible pain and unable to speak or eat and i wouldnt wish that on anyone but its a difficult choice to allow someone to assist a person to die. Allowing her to slip away is a different issue, not resuscitating, not carrying out life saving procedures is different but actually taking steps to help someone die is too far in my eyes.

I agree that it is a very thin line. Death is an esential part of life. We are dying before we are even out of the womb.
Every situation is different and Im sure that most people have had some touch with cancer. My uncle has recently been dignosed with this and given 4 months. Such a difficult situation. Do you go out and enjoy what little time you have left or spend time in Chemo which may just progress you further and faster into a worse state which yes it may prolong life a little more but will he get the quality? Death can be very horrible in the end but nature has its way and modern medicine has its.
We are learning more about these life threating illnesses each day. I don't beleive in assisted suicide. Vets put many animals down as keeping it alive with drugs and surgery can be more expensive than the animals is 'worth'.
However in humans our lives can prolonged with drugs and surgery for many years. Which is very expensive as you will all know with the NHS's budge, waiting lists, running out of money etc

[Keith Shelley]

I believe that this should be a legal document within British law. I personally would produce one if I knew it would be respected by our so called government.

[Rheghead]

What should be the manner in which terminal patients be killed? Are drugs the most effective in terms of suffering and time to take effect??

To put it bluntly, a fixed bolt gunshot would be the most effective but I dare say we would prefer to give them blood-free drugs for our benefit and not the terminally ill loved one, so who is being hypocritical about allowing animals to die quickly and letting people suffer?? The truth is that drug killing is/can be very painful, I have read stories of when it goes wrong and even when it goes right in US penal procedures etc.

Yes this is a dodgy issue and one that never ceases to crop up for discussion on this forum. I err towards mercy killing but knowing our legal system, by the time a lawful judgement is reached then the patient will have died or is still sufferering on in worse pain.

[Fran]

I think patients should be allowed to choose what treatments they want, and if it makes their condition worse, to end the treatment if they so wish. they should also be allowed to choose to die when and how they want. I also think a patient is happier to be cared for at home and to die at home rather than in a hospice or hospital, where they can enjoy their home comforts and their loved ones around them. this can be done with the proper pain relief given by nurses who can visit the patient at home. i really do feel it should be ALL the patients choice.