Should euthanasia or "death with dignity" be available to anyone upon demand under controlled circumstances?
When I hear people talk about the difficulty of euthanizing their elderly or desperately ill pets I immediately think that at least we accord our pets a more logical and merciful death than we do to our fellow humans. The wonders of modern medicine can be as much a curse as they are a blessing. We live in an unprecedented time when we can know what will probably kill us twenty years down the line. To modern doctors death is the enemy which must be fought to the last possible moment. Little concern is given to the quality of life of the patient/victim, only that they be kept alive.
The conspiracy is broad-based. Big Pharma wants to keep you on maintenance drugs and never seems to come up with cures. A patient cured is a customer lost. If they stumbled across a $1 cure for AIDS or cancer would we ever hear of it? And then there are the private, for-profit health insurance companies that are really legalized extortion and protection rackets sucking billions out of the health-care system for administration, profits and to pay lawyers to find ways not to honor the benefits spelled out in their policies. The patient is but a scrap of meat ground up in the gears of corporate medicine. If we truly have free will shouldn't we be allowed to opt out?
There are many reasons someone may want to take advantage of doctor assisted suicide. One would be to avoid a prolonged and torturous illness. Another might be to avoid being a burden to loved ones. There are also those who are alone in life and don't want to go through the steady drip, drip of watching their bodies deteriorate due to age. If the request is initiated by the patient, there is no outside duress and the patient has thought through their decision with the consul of medical professionals what gives the state the right to deny such a request no matter what the circumstances? Like back alley abortions unassisted suicides can be messy affairs that can lead to unintended consequences like paralysis or brain damage. The primary reason for legalizing abortions was to end horrific atrocities committed in non-clinical circumstances. Wouldn't the same argument apply to suicide?
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60 comments (51 - 60)
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.They shoot horses, don't they? This is a subject where laws are created and controlled by 1) the religious who see suffering as part of God's plan, and 2) big pharma who see disappearing profits.
Shameful, really, that something so personal such as our eventual destiny is state-controlled. I've heard a few stories from places where assisted dying is legal, but the hoops to jump through are horrendously complex.
Hominid
Level 7
Nov 23, 2017
1
I live in Oregon that has legalized physician assisted suicide but the conditions one has to meet are so restrictive that few can take advantage. You have to be of sound mind but near death and capable of administering the fatal dose yourself. How many invalids are capable of that?
I think if the sufferer agrees to die then he shld be assisted to end is life. Or given the means to end his life himself.
I don't see how assisted suicide can work fairly without universal health care. Health care has to be equally accessible to all before death with dignity can be equally accessible to all. Medically assisted death with dignity has always been available to the wealthy and the powerful, it's the poor that have had to deal with this problem on their own and with all the pitfalls that come with that.
Surfpirate
Level 9
Feb 24, 2019
0
They’ve been argueing in the Dutch Parliament over a ‘fulfilled life’ law, to extend the euthanasia law which allows bypassing a life of suffering, so that anyone who considers they have lived a fulfilled life can opt for euthanasia. I’m entirely in favour myself, but they haven’t been able to sort out the terms of the law in a way that satisfies a majority.
Denker
Level 7
Aug 10, 2018
0
I have wrote my story on topic I am not afraid to die...I have hiv 27yrs and in great health. My husband died 19 yrs ago with hiv. The torture he went through is unimaginable. When I am very sick and can't take care of myself that will be my time to die.NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. I have saved many pills over the years I just want to gently go to sleep forever.
RobinL
Level 4
May 4, 2018
0
Sorry don't know why comment came up twice
I have read many arguments for and against the various levels of euthanasia.
There was a recent article about making it more easily accessible here [dailymail.co.uk].
Treasurehunter
Level 6
Dec 25, 2017
0
The suicide pod is a bit silly. It is much easier to use nitrogen or helium with a plastic bag. But it would be much better and more pleasant and dignified if we could just go to the doctor and say we have had enough and want to end our lives.
If I have a terminal disease that includes symptoms of extreme pain, and anesthesia is not working, I want the right and means to end my life.
mediatorguy
Level 3
Dec 25, 2017
0
In most countries you don't have that right. You can be screaming in agony at the end of terminal cancer for days, because the analgesia is no longer working and the doctor will not put you out of your misery because he is afraid of prosecution. Do not believe those who say we can control pain these days. We can only do it up to a point and the doctors will refuse to increase the dose of, for example, morphine, because they know that if they increase it enough to remove the pain, it will kill the patient.
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