euthanasia

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I have recently watched a programme about euthanasia and to be quite honest i was pretty pissed off in a weird way!

How can governments say that someone who wishes to die because they are terminally ill or to be quite blunt a vegetable?
Also if you aid someone in euthanasia you will be charged with murder for helping someone close to you to end their pain.

I personally do not see the logic in this! I personally think if someone gets so bad that they cannot live without the aid of somebody else feeding them bathing them or can't even get out of there own bed and will have to spend the rest fo there days there cannot submit to the government for euthanasia?

So the question i put to you is, should euthanasia be legal if somebody wishes to die in a vegetated state?

Also sorry for any spelling mistakes.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

People should have the right to die. It's a basic human right. Euthanasia is perfectly ok in my books. So is abortion and most other "Obscene" things.

Also sorry for any spelling mistakes.

You might find this helpful if your worried about spelling. Just run your posts through it prior to sending them. [http://www.spellchecker.net/spellcheck/english_united_kingdom_spell_checker.html]

Thanks i shall use that from now on, also my grammar is pretty poor so hopefully i can improve on that.

 

[Keepitclean]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/health/oz-court-hears-landmark-euthanasia-case-835

Here is an article about the Christian Rossiter case recently in Western Australia. The court allowed him to die through not taking his medication provided he didn't do anything to accelerate his death. I think the right decision was made on this one.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I think Euthanasia should be legal... as it is illegal, it is just forcing people to suffer...
Not much else I can say, really.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I have told my family and friends that if I ever get put into a vegetative state, they should try and find a way to allow me to die with dignity, and I'll do the same for them.

It's one of the few things that truly terrifies me, the thought of being imprisoned in your own body.

I support it for whoever needs it. Not that it should be abused, but that it should end the suffering of someone who truly needs it.

That's pretty much what i was trying to say but i'm not very good with words.

Same here the thought of just in a sense being dead laying there day in and day out scares the living crap out of me!

Holy captain cooks nipples!!!! 18595 posts :O
Ifeel so inferior lol

 

[Erana]

As Havelock Vetinari says in Going Postal, people like the appearance of choice, or something like that. Assisted suicide is like that- you can die now, or later. People innately like the idea of later, but if you just say, "you gotta keep suffering here as long as possible," people feel like they've been sentenced to death, ironically. Point is, people will be more willing to fight for their lives if living as long as they can is their choice, rather than their doom.

 

[Sajuuk-khar]

First off, as far as I know in every country, it's the family members (usually spouse or children, otherwise the parents) that finally decide whether to euthanise braindead patients or not, not the government.

Aside from that: braindead is braindead. Dead brains means it's not a sentient being anymore, you can hope but chances of recovery is non-existent.
In case of terminal illness: it's the persons own choice. I can perfectly see why someone wouldn't want to go through their last weeks of intense suffering.

 

[Daverson]

Of course Euthanasia should be legal. As far as I'm concerned, it's a breach of our human right to life to make it illegal.

I suppose I should explain that, to spare people of the inherent confusion. In my mind, if you have a right to something, you should equally have the right to end it as you see fit. How can we truly live free lives when we have no control over how we end them?

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

First off, as far as I know in every country, it's the family members (usually spouse or children, otherwise the parents) that finally decide whether to euthanise braindead patients or not, not the government.

That is true, but everyone knows the government over rules everything! nothing goes on in countries without them knowing and they ahve final word unfortunatley!

 

[Agayek]

I do believe in assisted suicide. Euthanasia... Well, only if they're brain-dead.

Euthanasia is assisted suicide.

I'm of the opinion that it should be legal in every situation where the patient is consciously capable of requesting it. If the patient, assuming they are not completely loopy from medication/the disease, requests to die, they should be allowed to/assisted in it.

Any case where the patient does not explicitly ask for it should not be allowed however. No one has the right to decide whether someone else (barring heinous criminal offenses) should live or die. I don't care what their relationship to the diseased is. They do not have the right to make that call, under any situation.

 

[Lucifron]

Euthanasia as an option for people in extreme suffering with no escape or people in a permanent vegatative state decided by next of kin should absolutely be legal.

There isn't an argument against this beyond "BUT! BUT!! THE BIBLE SAYS..." and "Uhhm.. No, I dun want that fer meself.".

 

[Cherry Cola]

I have told my family and friends that if I ever get put into a vegetative state, they should try and find a way to allow me to die with dignity, and I'll do the same for them.

It's one of the few things that truly terrifies me, the thought of being imprisoned in your own body.

I support it for whoever needs it. Not that it should be abused, but that it should end the suffering of someone who truly needs it.

Same with terminally ill. I've seen people waste away to cancer and it's not pretty.

EDIT: Also, OP, your spellings pretty good. Not perfect, but it's readable.

Don't worry Furb! I'll kill you before you're in a imprisoned in your own body!

Either that or I'll dress you like a lady

 

[Kortney]

When considering the issue of euthanasia, we have to ask:

-Who are we allowing the euthanasia to? Only the terminally ill? If so, how many doctors are needed to diagnose them as "terminally ill"? Should it only apply to cases where the recipient is surely going to die? Is probably going to die good enough?

-Who makes the decision? If the patient themselves has slipped into a mind state rendering them incapable of making the choice, then who steps in? A family member? How can we be sure said family member has the "right" motivations for deciding death? Is money involved? If it is the person themselves making the choice, have they been influenced into choosing? How many psychiatrists are needed to label them as sane enough to make the choice?

Regardless of personal opinion, these are just a few of the questions that need answering. The legislation has to be pretty water tight. Some states who have legalised euthanasia are still strugling to clarify and redefine certain aspects of the legislation.

My personal opinion is on the fence. I can see the arguments for both sides, but ultimately I do agree that if someone is in pain, had a long life and/or has zero to no chance of living to their capacity and wants to die, they should be allowed to make that decision. Keeping old and sick patients in hospital beds watching them literally wither away for years isn't good for anyone. It sucks for the patient, the hospital staff, the tax payers and the family.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

What's wrong with the Youth in Asia?

I think that Euthanasia should always be possible if you decide that you want to end your life (for whatever reason) then why should someone else decide if that's allowed or not? :/

 

[Chaos-Spider]

As Havelock Vetinari says in Going Postal, people like the appearance of choice, or something like that. Assisted suicide is like that- you can die now, or later. People innately like the idea of later, but if you just say, "you gotta keep suffering here as long as possible," people feel like they've been sentenced to death, ironically. Point is, people will be more willing to fight for their lives if living as long as they can is their choice, rather than their doom.

You just reminded me that I have to finish reading this book at some point as I started reading it, and read most of the way through all the way back in 2007.

Back on topic again: I could see how Euthanasia could give people control over the final days of their lives and at least allow them to die on their own terms. However, I could also imagine the debate over Euthanasia heating up as religious institutions try to pose multiple different possibilities for when to consider a person as dead because some Christian fundamentalist says that people don't actually die they just get called to heaven or something.

The political debate would then focus on whether a person's right to die clashes with their already existing and upheld right to live. which combined with the religious and political heat around abortion would give humanity an existential hierarchy of: Embryo(fetus)> adult human (especially if female)>corpse (dead person).

 

[Darth Caelum]

Well, anyway, i would rather die than have to live the rest of my (likely) short life in a state where i can do nothing. Where i will have no choices, no decisions. I rather have a life than for me to exist, so i would die first.
[sub]and you're spelling isn't that bad actually......[/sub]

 

[S.R.S.]

Yes. One summed it up for me:

Darkness imprisoning me
all that I see
absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
trapped in myself
body my holding cell

Wouldn't you want to die before you're turned into a zombie?

 

[Doitpow]

want to hear someone's take on it who is actually slowly dying?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUE3pBIuAGk

 

[Frequen-Z]

If it was a member of my family, cabbaged in a hospital bed. I'd euthanise them regardless of what the law is. You know you have public support should you hit the media, and you know you've done the right thing for your loved one, prison or no.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Euthanasia is not the same thing as a right to die. A right to die is the right to refuse medical help to keep you alive. Euthanasia is the right for someone else to take your life. I do believe in the right to die but the door to euthanasia should stay shut I reckon.