Assisted Suicide - your views?

[Serendipity]

Dude but what about the people who depend on these people? Some wives and children can't handle the loss and some have killed themself over such losses...

"Dude", every situation is different. And frankly, that's what makes it none of your business.

My grandmother was a walking zombie. She couldn't bathe, she couldn't talk, she didn't know *anyone*. She "lived" like this for 5 years. Had she known what was happening to her she would have killed herself.

All we could do was watch. You speak of loss. I think maybe you don't know what loss really is.

 

[jimik]

I used to work at a nursing home. On a daily basis, I would witness several people praying to their god to take them away. It was horrible to see so many people in pain begging us to let them die.

I don't think anyone who is against assisted suicide can understand exactly how much pain a person can experience on a constant basis. These people would literally be in pain almost all day. It was unbearable pain, and not at all unusual for me to see them crying in utter agony.

Keeping terminally ill people alive while they are in constant pain is cruel.

 

[gashin]

All I'm saying is that there could be a huge social impact if all the old people could kill themselves easily.... there should be some family participation in deciding and they should have an equal say as the patient. I've seen deaths tear apart families and personally know an instance where this one girl killed herself when her husband committed suicide all of a sudden... leaving behind kids....

My $0.02 .. A person's life is their own to live/end however they wish. If they're depressed and want to die that should be their choice (not saying I agree with it.. but it's their choice to make) If they are old and infirm and incapable of doing anything more than laying there crapping on themselves. They should be able to choose to go out of this world.

I'll say it right now, if something were to ever happen to me where I was in that state I'd want someone to off me. I am of a mind that if I am no longer able to care for myself and am nothing more than a burden to others I no longer want to live.

I agree with Happily - if you want someone to "live" miserably in constant pain and unhappiness just so that you can say they are still on this planet for your own personal pleasure you're selfish. How could you wish pain and misery on someone you love? If you love someone you should want their happiness over your own selfish wants.

 

[gashin]

I volunteer at a hospital and see it all the time also - but I also see how much their families depend on them and how devastating their deaths would be...

I used to work at a nursing home. On a daily basis, I would witness several people praying to their god to take them away. It was horrible to see so many people in pain begging us to let them die.

I don't think anyone who is against assisted suicide can understand exactly how much pain a person can experience on a constant basis. These people would literally be in pain almost all day. It was unbearable pain, and not at all unusual for me to see them crying in utter agony.

Keeping terminally ill people alive while they are in constant pain is cruel.

 

[breakfastchef]

The individual should always have the right to determine their own fate with regards to terminal illness, loss of mental facility and other hardships I can not think of at this time. This is legally available through a living will, in most instances. Reassessment of a living will would be recommended periodically, and the decision held within discussed with immediate family in the event they become executors of the will.

 

[Serendipity]

All I'm saying is that there could be a huge social impact if all the old people could kill themselves easily.... there should be some family participation in deciding and they should have an equal say as the patient. I've seen deaths tear apart families and personally know an instance where this one girl killed herself when her husband committed suicide all of a sudden... leaving behind kids....

You seem to be talking about suicide, not assisted suicide. You're talking about me walking up to my neighbor and saying "hey, could you shoot me because I've had a bad day". The rest of us seem to be talking about those with terminal illnesses. People who want to commit suicide can do that on their own without the help of others.

As for assisted suicide, I honestly fail to see how this is anyone's business outside of the family and doctors. How about you stay out of my bedroom and let me make my own choices about how I want to treat my illness.



How is a man with terminal cancer helping his family in any way? Do you think he's out working? Making a living? If he's doped up on morphine, dying a slow, painful death in a hospital room - then it's going to be painful to the family regardless of if he gets to live an extra 3 months. IMO - if you love me, put me out of my misery. If you respect me as a human being, grant me the freedom to choose the path of least suffering.

 

[happily]

Yes if the extension of that person's life will save others' lives and happiness.... most people aren't you and many cannot handle the loss of loved ones....

I personally find watching a loved one suffer much more unsettling, but if they WANT to fight through it I'll stand right there with them and offer any support I can. Like I said it really has to be about THEIR needs. Not my own personal wants

 

[shivadance]

My father has been through so much in the last year there is no way me or my family would have denied him the right to assisted suicide. It's not about whether I'd have to go live with my mom so she could keep the house, or whether my dog will be happy living with her dog. That doesn't matter at all.

What matters is his pain and his quality of life. When one is too high and the other too low what is the point of continuing on if he choses not to?

And about doctor oaths... why not a kit like in the movie "Children of Men." No doctor need be present. Or a place to turn yourself in like in "Minority Report" if memory serves.

Life is for the living. Let the 'almost dead' or 'suffering greatly until dead' be dead on their own accord swiftly and painlessly.

 

[freedomendured]

If a person wishes to die, let them die. I don't think depression should be an acceptable reason as that can be treated (as was said above somewhere), but at the same time there should not be too many qualifiers put on it.

I'm sick of the government telling people what they can and cannot do with their lives. If it doesn't directly harm anybody else, why should they have ANY say?

And yes it probably will cause grief to the families, but think then of the grief of a 5 year struggle with agonizing pain and sorrow, met with increasing medical costs, possibly even resulting in loss of home ownership or other things of that nature.