'Should Assisted Suicide be allowed?' poll discussion

jamtart6

I'm quite cross at some of the replies on this thread stating "palliative care is super" - fine it might be for some people, but certainly not all. My Grandad has got one of the highest pain thresholds I know after various operations, he was on half the painkillers of men half his age. He is an extremely cheerful man who I have never seen cry or be sad in my life.

He is now dying of cancer (by that I mean, he probably will not be here at the end of the weekend). 7 weeks after his terminal diagnosis, he has given up because he isn't getting better, he is in writhing pain, crying out, crying with tears of pain, unable to move, unable to do anything for himself, has lost all dignity and will to live and makes jovial comments like "just shoot me for gods sake". He is at the end of his tether.

What person wouldn't help someone like that? The pain is NOT under control and has not been for some time. So palliative care isn't for everyone. Every single member of our family have watched in horror as he has deteriorated this week, and every single one has said (a) please take me to Switzerland or Holland before this ever happens to me (b) you would NOT treat a dog or cat like that. Talk about cruelty to animals?? what's happening to my Grandad right now is brutal cruelty.

I don't even think anyone (even doctors with no emotional attachment) can understand until they've seen it and felt it first hand with a close relative. I know I certainly had no idea until very recently, although I have always supported some form of euthanasia, provided it could be controlled properly.

Please accept my apologies for my heated post. I am not very often this passionate abotu something, and it appears this thread and replies appeared on the wrong day!

From a financial perspective,if palliative care is the way forward then the costs should absolutely not come into it. It should never be "you are costing too much money, so we'll pop you off peacefully now" I also agree that Im not sure it could be policed correctly

dizzie

jud!th wrote: »

suicide is always a mental health issue

To say this is to say that there is a mental health malfunction with everyone who makes a choice to commit suicide, and that the norm is the desire to hang on to one's own life at all costs. I'm not denying that suicide is a manifestation of mental illness in some cases, but I disagree strongly that this is always the case.

Errata

I understand that whilst palliative care is the perfect solution for many people, there are some patients whose pain can't be alleviated by it. Surely the solution to this is to improve palliative care treatment so that everyone is helped ?
I am very uneasy about doctors being trained to kill, training they would need if they were required to prescribe a fatal dose on request.

sweetpea26

I find it unbelievable that so few people 8% to be exact find it completely morally wrong to assist in ending a life.
What has happened to this society. We throw away so much in our bins....everything has become disposable when a newer or more advanced model has been invented. We are now considering disposing of human beings because they cant do what they used to do! Human life is sacred...no matter what! Only God can decide when life should end. Yes I am a Christian...and I know Jews Muslims and other world faiths believe the same. Has life just become one financial calculation!!!! We come into this world with no money and we leave unable to take any with us. There are so many wastes of revenue by the Government .... I say the fact that it costs billions to facilitate a military presence in Iraq up to now and onto Afghanistan and Pakistan next!!! The state treats soldiers as disposable so why not the old and the sick. So lets find a way to save some money ... kill the old and the vulnerable due to sickness and WE save millions to kill even more people in other countries and lose our own souls. God Bless

DON79

from my point of view, my mum has multiple sclerosis - she is completely dependent on my dad who is her carer, she cannot now even watch tv because her eyesight is so poor or see the pictures of her grandchildren (we don't live nearby). Yes it is hard to see my mum like this but the law is there to protect people like my mum from having the decision taken out of their hands. She is not capable now of deciding for herself if she would choose to end her life therefore the current law protects her in this way. No one should decide for someone else whether they should end their own suffering or not, whether it be because of concern over pain/suffering or for financial motives etc

poet123

Palliative care may exist but my father did not get it.

He was starved to death...we pleaded with the doctors to continue with nutrition,to no avail. We were told baldly,and clinically, that resources were finite,and that my 75 year old father,a war veteran,was less favourably looked on for those resources than a younger man.

So forgive me if my take on palliative care is jaundiced.....speeding the end by another name.

gimatti

My personal opinion is that if a patient feels that they have no other option and their quality of life is not what they wish for themself or their close support, then as an individual I personally feel that they should have the right to choose whether they wish to opt out of the life and pain that they are in.

Personal choice should never ever be taken away from an individual and I would hope that those closest to that person would support and be with them on whatever decision they make for themselves.

I believe from the heart if euthansia is what a person wants then they should have that option. Those closest to that individual would support them with their decision because of the love and support they feel for them.

Take pets, who amongst us would see a pet suffer, why should it be any diffferent for a human being.

jamtart6

clare311- i think most of the emotive posts on here are less to do with finances and more to do with suffering of people. the fact that many think its RIGHT shows that society is moving in the right direction in my opinion, otherwise people like my Grandad and poet123's Dad and many more will suffer their final hours on this planet.

DON79 -You are absolutely right that the descision shouldn't be taken out of the patients hands. I fully agree. But..I for one know NOW that if I was in that state (cancer i mean) or had no quality of life or a terminal diagnosis, I'd rather go peacefully. As long as this wasn't abused in anyway,it would be fine. My Grandad is 100% with us in the brain and he knows he doesn't want to be alive any more.

Errata

In both Oregon and Washington assisted suicide is legal. Not many people are taking advantage of it.

ceridwen

jud!th wrote: »

suicide is always a mental health issue

Why?

Are you saying that if someone decides to commit suicide that they must be mentally ill?

Well - as far as I know - I am 100% sane and mentally healthy - and the decision has already been made in principle - ie that, if I ever became too ill to have any "quality of life" then I will (with or without assistance) do so. I would argue that that means I have a very clear, logical, grasp of the facts as to just how bad life can become for someone with an incurable illness - as has anyone else who makes that same decision.