This feels like the kind of exchange that escalates until someone rage quits the forum.
Lads, if there was ever a case of agree to disagree and leave it, it’s probably this one.
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Sensible advice.
What are you doing bringing common sense onto the internet?
Sorry @PaulRoJo I was out of line there. Amjust going to leave this thread alone, literally too close to home
A friend’s mom who was suffering from dementia chose to end her life a few weeks back (prearranged), it’s been a trying time. especially since mom had her heart attack and is suffering with her breathing these days. Parents asked me last week if I’m going on a trip for my 50th this year, they want to join. But have had to cancel their last two vacations due to health reasons. How do you have that conversation, it’s heartbreaking.
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Louis Theroux did a good documentary on this a number of years ago.
Agree that this one needs to be left alone,if the person is able to make a rational decision it is his/hers alone to make, sadly after that it gets more complex!
Yes. I would want in certain circumstances. I would however want someone to determine that I am of sound mind, and have valid reasons for doing so (in other words not a standard suicide).
And articles like this show just how insidious ‘voluntary’ euthanasia can be:
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Had an extended family member that died 1 day before assisted death was scheduled.
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On balance I would be against assisted dying. The moral and legal questions it raises are too problematic for me. In a world with limited resources, what do we do when the right to die becomes the duty to die?
Stories like the one of the elderly Dutch couple above seem, at face value, to be ok. They both were of sound mind, both old, both struggling, both wanted to die together and not leave the other behind. It seems ok, perhaps even beautiful in its own way.
But my concern is that if it is normalized and the scale is ramped up, the care around the whole process will deteriorate, and somewhere along the way it will be ripe for abuse.
I believe that human life is a precious gift, and as such, should be protected and valued at every stage. Human beings, at their best, rally around to care for and protect the vulnerable. Assisted dying seems removed from that.
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If I was told that I had a terminal disease that would cause pain for my family and myself, I would end my life.
I would want to do that with an element of comfort and dignity.
Denying me that is morally incorrect.
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This sort of topic is very difficult to discuss on the internet, as there is a whole range of emotion and human experience wrapped up in it.
Still, in good faith I would maintain that it is not the responsibility of society to kill vulnerable people. Once society assumes that role, when does the right to die become the obligation to die? Life is valuable and we should strive to protect it, not actively end it.
I completely agree that everything should be done to make someone as comfortable as possible. That’s the business of palliative care, to give the best quality of life possible in the context of serious illness. That seems quite right, but I would draw a clear line at killing someone.
On a related note to the wider discussion, one thing that bothers me about the framing is how the word ‘dignity’ has been attached to assisted dying. One might argue it is very far from dignified. It might be tantamount to saying to someone that at this stage your life has no value, so let’s end it. It seems odd to me for that to be considered the dignified approach.
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Is the inability to swallow dignified? Incontinence, wasting muscles and pain, is that dignified. Loved ones watching the slow horrible death, is that dignified?
There is no moral or ethical code that stops me ending such a demise for myself. No greater power to tell me that I must suffer, because life is valuable.
There is nothing valuable about living in pain and dread.
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I hear you @RedOverTheWater and @Quicksand ,
You both make valid points. I am of the view, i do not want to be a burden on anyone, especially my family, also, my religion makes it forbidden to do this ’ assisted dying with dignity '.
It is a difficult subject and there are no defined answers of what is the best way.
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For me Maria, it will be a personal decision. If I ever have to make it.
I will not allow others to share my suffering if I am at that stage.
I would want to be assisted in my decision.
Of course there should be checks and balances, of course the rationale for facilitating the demise of a person should be solid and legally sound.
But ultimately the decision should rest with the person.
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Mankind’s biggest weakness.
Discuss.
Not the proper thread, but no…
Our biggest weakness is greed.
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In Canada they cant be vulnerable, they have to be of sound mind, and agree to it up to the second the needle goes into the arm. At this stage its for terminal patients, so you cant request it if you suffering from depression.
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I appreciate what you are saying - in Canada they cannot be mentally vulnerable. Good. They should be of sound mind. But there are other forms of being vulnerable, such as being old, frail and sick, and perhaps feeling as though you are a drain on resources and people would be better off if you were gone.
Anyhow, I don’t want to be the main one to argue against assisted dying on the forum. It’s not something I have given a huge amount of thought to, but it seems problematic to me, in the ways I’ve mentioned in my posts above.
Nothing but respect for others of a different viewpoint, as they weigh a difficult issue and come to a different conclusion to me.
While most discussions on this seem to be around terminal, as in incurable cancer with 6 mths to live, what about those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimers or MND. Do those people not deserve to go with dignity?
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