Euthanasia.

Euthanasia is such a hard subject to tackle and find answers too. In an idel world there would be no pain and suffering and death would come to us all peacefully as we sleep but it's not an ideal world is it.

People of sound mind being able to make their own informed choice of when to die I totally, unreservedly agree with. I have always said if I was diagnosed with a debilatating illnes or the dreaded cancer, when it got too much i would honestly do the job of ending my own life whilst I was still able. Yes I fear death but not as much as I fear the suffering many people have to endure.

The problems arise when other people have to make the choice of when somebodies 'time was up'? Families find it hard to make the devastating decision to turn a persons life support machines off when the person is already pronounced clinically dead. Could you imagine having to bring about the death of a family member? If it was a family decision what would happen if one family member didn't agree?

 
I've told my husband that if I ever got to a stage where I was being kept alive by machines or had a disease like alzheimers to 'pull the plug'. I don't want to be spoon fed or have my children having to take me to the potty etc.

Thing is though, that if it was the other way round I'm not sure I could do it.
 
A great many of us have expressed our opinions on this subject in several threads over the past year or so. But it is a subject that concerns us all intimately because, sooner or later, we will all have to face the prospect of dying, whether we like it or not.

Shuttling back and forth between Fleetwood and Blackpool, via Cleveleys, I get the chance to pass quite a number of retirement homes. Some of the sights I have seen leave me wondering what is the point of prolonging a life to the last possible syllable. For me, life only has value if you do something with it. Spending one's days sat in the same chair in a puddle of one's own effluent and too frail to move is not living. The Welfare State may have been instrumental in improving lifespan in the UK, but it has proved to be singularly useless in helping us to figure out what we should do with all the extra years we have been sentenced to.

Surely a society as sophisticated as ours can come up with a means whereby a dignified end can be arranged for those who feel that life has become a burden too heavy to be bourne?
Speaking personally, I would hate to end up in a retirement home. Were the prospect ever to arise I think I would develop a sudden case of insomnia and save up the sleeping tablets before I would agree to go into one.
 
i see suicide and euthanasia as two seperate things where as suicide i see as ending a perfectly healthy life where their is hope and euthanasia as to end a life where there is no hope

i would never promote suicide but as for euthanasia i think you should be allowed to end your own life if you choose to regardless of what anyone else thinks its your life and if you dont want to suffer then you shouldnt have to regardless of what religeion says about suicide and going to hell it should be up to the individual

rather than rot in a hospital bed with terminal cancer for example i would live my life as best i could until i could bare it no more and hope i had the strenghth left to do myself in when the time came , you may not agree with it but its my life and that is all that should matter

most of the people who harp on about how bad euthanasia is either dont have terminaly ill friends or family or have never been in a situation where their life was in tha balance , believe me when you get diagnosed with a serious disease you will consider things like what if its terminal how painfull will my death be etc no matter who you are and if after all the treatments the NHS has to offer fail then you should be able to end your missery before you die an agonising and in some cases an undignified death

i have seen a family member die with terminal cancer and i have seen people on the hospital wards with terminal cancer and my choice in their position would to be dead before things got that bad

i also think that those who choose to suffer should be able to do so but for those who want to skip the messy ending there should be laws to allow them to do so

sorry to anyone here who may have family or friends with cancer for using cancer as an example but cancer is a big part of my familys lives and my own personal life , i was lucky enough to not be terminaly ill but if i had been i would have liked to have had an option to bail out before the end

ok thats my 2 cents :D
 
I have seen what prolonging life does to some especially if it is and old person. They want to die with dignity but the doctors have to drag it out. I would rather have a dignified exit than one i hated and made others suffer because of what was happening.
 
I too think its a choice you should be able to make, if in sound mind, I also would not like to be kept alive if I was in a vegetive state. I can understand to a degree why its illegal, but if guidlines were in place so the decision couldn't be abused, then I would be happy for it to become legal.
 
Could we trust the govenment at the time to come up with a solid workable solution because if its like its been with them so far i doubt it too much backtracking.
 
Like I earlier Parkinson's Disease isn't going to kill me, however I've met people who were diagnosed at the same age as me, who ten years down the line, can't walk, can't talk and shake excessively. If I get that bad before a cure is found, I would like to say I would prefer to be dead, although I would never suggest that other people should follow the same course of action.

I want a legal option. It's all very well for people to say this, like Gayle discussing it with her husband, but as the law stands, if your loved one is unable to take their own life, even after giving clear instruction when they were well, what to do in this situation, the person assisting their loved one to end their life is acting illegally. People are prosecuted and even imprisoned every year for doing what their loved one asked them to do, because they were to ill to carry out their own wishes.

The law needs changing.
 
This thread bring me back to the dot & ethel story on eastenders - i know a soap opera but they tried to convey awarness that this happens more than you think or at least the fight for it is there.
 
Ah, that was one of the best Eastenders ever.
I was so moved.
I cried buckets.
 
i think we need to sort out the youth in this country, what with these 'hoodies' and 'happy slapping' and what not, before we start worrying about the youth in asia.


this would have never happened under mrs thatcher
 
Staveros said:
i think we need to sort out the youth in this country, what with these 'hoodies' and 'happy slapping' and what not, before we start worrying about the youth in asia.


this would have never happened under mrs thatcher
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There's always one.

You hand them something on a plate and they always take it. It's spelt yoof by the way.;)
 
I believe that Simon’s response to this post says as much as can be said in this very difficult subject.

Anyone one who as had to endure watching a loved one pass away in pain and discomfort will understand how easy it is to be torn apart by wanting to keep them with us and praying to our chosen God to end their suffering.

I believe no one individual as the right to end life in this manner; nor should anyone have this heavy burden of responsibility placed on their shoulders by another. However, that’s not to say that one can’t assist in providing an appropriate method that would allow the sufferer to bring about there own end. It is difficult for me to understand why in this day and technological age that anyone should end their days in pain and discomfort as the means and methods of pain control are so advanced today and readily available.

I spent over eight years working as an Auxiliary Nurse in a Geriatric Hospital “an often miss used term that has now past into disuse” Much of that time was spent working the night shift which would include sitting with those who were about to pass to spirit. Our role was to provide the comfort and dignity that ensured that no one faced their death alone, particularly if the family themselves could not be there. Pain control for those in pain and distress was paramount and the management of pain control was never allowed to slip.
 
In all seriousness I wrote an article on the subject for a piece of coursework about a year ago so it is an issue I am familiar with.

My view is that I believe the current legal position should remain.
Firstly, as some have mentioned, from a legislative point of view, it is something that is impossible to 'police' 100 per cent effectively and would therefore be open to abuse.

There have been numerous cases of people who are supposedly clinically 'dead' awakening from comas after years to go on and live a good standard of life. Just one such case should be enough to knock the argument on the head. You cannot 'play God' with an issue as precious as the human life. Quite simply there is no going back. Likewise degenerative diseases. How can a person KNOW for sure how they will feel WHEN they do reach a certain stage of an illness?? Clearly such decisions would have to be made at a relatively early stage BUT how can one say for sure that they wouldn't want to reverse that decision down the line?? What then??

Also, who would be responsible for actually performing these 'mercy' killings?? It would HAVE to be the doctors wouldn't it. Should a doctor have such a responsibility though?? Would they WANT such a burden?? After all it goes against the hippocratic oath.

IMO the law is something that supposedly provides a certainty by which you can arrange your affairs. An issue like this is impossible to bring that level of certainty to though.

You simply cannot go around making ad hoc decisions on something as precious as the human life, its a non starter for me.
 
Most people have had close encounters with death, anyone one whose read my blog will have read of the slow death of my Aunt aged fifty seven over the last few months. She chose to fight right until the day she died, when we were told her illness was terminal.

I believe quality of life also should be addressed as well as terminal illness. If my quality of life becomes so unbearable, and dependent on others to perform even the most mundane of tasks, I'm out of here, and if I don't have the ability I demand the right to seek assistance without the threat of prosecution hanging over that person.
 
It's not impossible, it works perfectly well in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
 
garinda said:
Most people have had close encounters with death, anyone one whose read my blog will have read of the slow death of my Aunt aged fifty seven over the last few months. She chose to fight right until the day she died, when we were told her illness was terminal.

I believe quality of life also should be addressed as well as terminal illness. If my quality of life becomes so unbearable, and dependent on others to perform even the most mundane of tasks, I'm out of here, and if I don't have the ability I demand the right to seek assistance without the threat of prosecution hanging over that person.
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Thats the trouble though Gazza, you cant DEMAND that.

You have to look at the bigger picture and accept the reality of the situation. If just one life is wrongly taken because of such a law then it cant be right.

Until someone can come up with an absolutely 100 per cent foolproof piece of legislation, which is not going to happen because it is impossible, then I really dont think we can entertain the idea.

Once we start playing God where does it end??

I sympathise whole heartedly with people who have had personally harrowing experiences of loved ones facing a slow and painful end BUT I think you MUST rise above your personal experience and see the bigger picture.
 
Gazza?

How very dare you?:)

As an atheist I don't want to play God as I don't believe one. In other threads I've stated my oposition to the death penalty for exactly the same reasons your giving me, ie: that an innocent person might be wrongly killed. No law is one hundred percent workable, but like I said it works perfectly well in other countries.

I do demand a change in the law, otherwise by the time comes I'm unable to wipe my own ass, I'll be moving to Amsterdam.:)
 
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