assisted suicide's

[balto]

Read this story last night and i must say it got me thinking, isnt it about time britain changed the law so that people with a terminal illness could end their lives instead if having to travel to switerzerland to do this. the lady has got primary progressive multiple sclerosis, and feels that when the time gcomes she would like to beable to end her life. At the end of the day if an animal is suffering the option is their to put them to sleep , so why cant a human have the same option. just wondering what everone elses few on this matter was. I for one would like to think if it was me then i could say enough was enough and die with dignity.

[telfordstar]

Read this story last night and i must say it got me thinking, isnt it about time britain changed the law so that people with a terminal illness could end their lives instead if having to travel to switerzerland to do this. the lady has got primary progressive multiple sclerosis, and feels that when the time gcomes she would like to beable to end her life. At the end of the day if an animal is suffering the option is their to put them to sleep , so why cant a human have the same option. just wondering what everone elses few on this matter was. I for one would like to think if it was me then i could say enough was enough and die with dignity.

Im with you on this one If it was me with such a terminal illness i would like to go with some pride and dignity before the stage of now being able to do a single thing for myself came upon me.

[riggerboy]

im with you both, if / when a it comes to that i hope to have the freedom of choice and say enough is enough give me the big pill, have the chance to say goodbye and end the pain and misery, i have watched to many friends and family die from cancer, it the most awful and sorry way to go, i watched me dad die in pain and suffering if he was a dog we would have been charged with cruelty for allowing the animal to suffer so long.

[northener]

Yes........we like to see ourselves as being part of a free-thinking individually based society.

Yet some members of our society would rather see fellow humans suffer excrutiating pain and a slow death because it offends their religion or their morals.

[Gizmo]

Agreed 100%, the government never gave me life so why should they have the right to stop me ending it with the help of someone if i am SUFFERING from a terminal illness and proved to be of sound mind and capable of rational thought.

[balto]

and if the you need someone to help you in your bid to end your sufferign then they could be sent to prison for up 14years, yet if they chance the law then the drugs used can end your suffering within 2-5 mins.

[Rheghead]

I am not disagreeing with some form of euthanasia but when could it apply? We need a definition of and a threshhold for 'suffering' which would make a reasonable person find life intolerable. I think that is the hardest thing to do for legislative purposes. And because the subject is so emotive, we have to have some definitions in place to avoid legal repurcussions.

Take the Shivo case, she wasn't even capable of suffering anything so should she be kept 'alive'.

Take a terminally ill cancer patient, has full faculties to make a decision, suffering definitely but would this apply?

Then take someone who has alzheimer's disease, possibly is or isn't suffering pain, can't make any decision either way and may even show signs that they are enjoying life but may even be suffering excruciatingly.


It is a total minefield and these are just a small selection of cases to consider.

[honey]

i agree totally with assisted suicide. we dont watch animals suffer, so why our loved ones.

[golach]

I am not disagreeing with some form of euthanasia but when could it apply? We need a definition of and a threshhold for 'suffering' which would make a reasonable person find life intolerable. I think that is the hardest thing to do for legislative purposes. And because the subject is so emotive, we have to have some definitions in place to avoid legal repurcussions.
It is a total minefield and these are just a small selection of cases to consider.

I agree Rheg, take someone such as Stephen Hawking, and I am only using him as an example, would you consider such as him for euthanasia?

[telfordstar]

I agree Rheg, take someone such as Stephen Hawking, and I am only using him as an example, would you consider such as him for euthanasia?

Hes happy with is life hes a total genius why would he want to die but there is the occassion where folk are so ill and in the right frame of mind and wish to make that decision.

[golach]

Hes happy with is life hes a total genius why would he want to die but there is the occassion where folk are so ill and in the right frame of mind and wish to make that decision.

Telfordstar, I only used Stephen Hawking as a graphic example, because many know of him and his condition, I never said he should want to die.

[telfordstar]

Telfordstar, I only used Stephen Hawking as a graphic example, because many know of him and his condition, I never said he should want to die.

All i was saying was, if asked im sure hes happy to live. There are some folk with the right reasons when asked, would like to die.

[Melancholy Man]

Agreed 100%, the government never gave me life so why should they have the right to stop me ending it if i am SUFFERING from a terminal illness and proved to be of sound mind and capable of rational thought.

What's to stop, then, a parent demanding control of a child's life because they "gave life". Or the religious arguing that "God gave life, and only God can take it away"?

[balto]

there is such a debate with this, arguments on both sides, but surly it is a persons right to say enough is enough, i know some people with a terminal illness are happy to live their lives to the end if they are capable.

[Bad Manners]

It is a very difficult subject to make a decide either way I think it would depend on the individual curcumstances. on saying that I think its time we stopped this policy that everything is black and white as its a matter of breaking the law to assist should there no be a debate for being a legal framework to have some form of appeal that all sides of the argument is placed before a judge so as a decision could be made on a personal basis rather than making one rule that fits all. It is never an easy dicission to take a life but in certain cases it would be the better decision. A greater insight to living wills would also help as a persons views could be outline whilst still in a good state of mind.

[justine]

put me down the minute i cant make up my mind. I dont want to put anyone in trouble, but my right to die when i want to die is up to me.IMO

Many people suffer too many years with conditions that get worse with every year passing and why should they not have the right to decide when they leave the land of the living.

Assisted suicide, in a controlled enviroment is ok, but people who live at home and have been assisted by a loved one, i do think is wrong,and so does the law.

Bringing it to the uk would be a great idea if only for the ones who are going to stop there own lives by one means or another if not helped.No man woman or child should livelife in pain, but until the law changes thats the unfortunate truth of the matter.

Although i dont advocate the right to assist a child to die.Cures may be found and a life may eb taken prematurely when hope may just be round the corner.

[Gizmo]

I agree Rheg, take someone such as Stephen Hawking, and I am only using him as an example, would you consider such as him for euthanasia?

I think most would agree that when we say 'suffering' we mean serious physical pain, not the inability to lead a normal active life.

[_Ju_]

I agree Rheg, take someone such as Stephen Hawking, and I am only using him as an example, would you consider such as him for euthanasia?

If you consider or propose someone for euthanasia it's called legal murder.
I believe in countries that allow for euthanasia, the decision can only be made by the person themselves, after consultation with more than one psyciatrist and a consultant doctor ( ie: not the doctor treating said patient).
There has to be a very sever control of euthanasia, that can never be carried out at the request of another than the patient, be they family, caretakers or officials (governamental), otherwise euthanasia becomes a way of hastening an inheritance, alleviating work and/or a money saving excercise, instead of a means to alleviating unecessary and futile suffering.
That said, I hope when and if it comes to that, that it will be an option open to myself. Always very well regulated.

[northener]

I think Ju has hit the nail on the head.

It is a question of whether the individual can be genuinely said to have medical cause for termination of their own life and the mental capacity to make that decision.

I don't think that anyone is suggesting that anyone else be given the power of life or death over a given individual (except, as already happens, when there is no hope for the individual on a life support system through massive trauma or disease).

MM: Fair point on parents arguing about 'giving' life.

But that falls outside the scenario(s) here. That would be more in line with whether parental consent is needed for operations based on parents wishes or religious grounds. I don't think anyone would stand for parents attemting to terminate their child's life without a massive investigation as to whether this would be the right course of action for the child.

[golach]

If you consider or propose someone for euthanasia it's called legal murder.
I believe in countries that allow for euthanasia, the decision can only be made by the person themselves, after consultation with more than one psyciatrist and a consultant doctor ( ie: not the doctor treating said patient).
There has to be a very sever control of euthanasia, that can never be carried out at the request of another than the patient, be they family, caretakers or officials (governamental), otherwise euthanasia becomes a way of hastening an inheritance, alleviating work and/or a money saving excercise, instead of a means to alleviating unecessary and futile suffering.
That said, I hope when and if it comes to that, that it will be an option open to myself. Always very well regulated.

Ju,
I agree fully with you , my original post was only to highlight, that great care and consideration must be taken before any decision can or is made to go down the road of euthanasia, Who has the final say, the patient if I may use that word, or the carers?