Assisted Suicide

[Greenbeard]

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even if I supported assisted suicide it would ONLY be for provable terminal conditions with a very short time to live.

I may be further out than some of the other proponents in this thread, but I don't consider suicide acceptable only for terminal cases in extreme physical pain. I agree with the sentiments expressed by Seneca the Younger millenia ago:

You may consider that the same thing happens to us: life has carried some men with the greatest rapidity to the harbour, the harbour they were bound to reach even if they tarried on the way, while others it has fretted and harassed. To such a life, as you are aware, one should not always cling. For mere living is not a good, but living well. Accordingly, the wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.​

I find it entirely reasonable to end one's life when one feels he's lived as long as he ought to. And I think those folks who make that decision should be able to seek assistance without legal barriers if they so choose.

 

[Douger]

The ultimate right of any person is the right to end their life when they see fit.

Agreed.

Agreed.

'Agreed.

 

[AllieBaba]

Death is not a right, peeps. That said, people who want to commit suicide generally can and do find a way. Assisted suicide isn't *suicide*. It's euthanasia. And it's wrong.

And I'm tired of the left encouraging despair and constantly trying to find new ways to kill people off.

I'm tired of the right encouraging people (and there loved ones) in despair and pain to hang in there a bit longer so big pharma and the medical industrial complex can bleed the estate (and in many cases bleed Medicare/Medicade) of the terminally ill.

Lol..damn those right wingers for valuing life!

 

[geauxtohell]

For or Against? And why?

I think it should be an option that terminal patients should be able to exercise.

I favor the Oregon model.

 

[Immanuel]

Death is not a right, peeps. That said, people who want to commit suicide generally can and do find a way. Assisted suicide isn't *suicide*. It's euthanasia. And it's wrong.

And I'm tired of the left encouraging despair and constantly trying to find new ways to kill people off.

I'm tired of the right encouraging people (and there loved ones) in despair and pain to hang in there a bit longer so big pharma and the medical industrial complex can bleed the estate (and in many cases bleed Medicare/Medicade) of the terminally ill.

Tell me, is that because you would prefer that the "state" bleed them dry with Estate Taxes?

Immie

 

[geauxtohell]

Death is not a right, peeps. That said, people who want to commit suicide generally can and do find a way. Assisted suicide isn't *suicide*. It's euthanasia. And it's wrong.

And I'm tired of the left encouraging despair and constantly trying to find new ways to kill people off.

It's not euthanasia. The patient's administer the pills to themselves. They physician just writes the script. It prevents people who want to commit suicide from finding a way in which they try to blow their brains out and end up in OR as a trauma case.

Furthermore, no one is "encouraging" people to do anything. The terminal patients initiate the process and are screened.

As for dumping this on the "left", I see a lot of conservatives on here who agree.

If someone has a terminal diagnosis, why should they be relegated to suffer simply because of your religious viewpoints? In the end, they are going to die anyways. It's just a matter of if they go out painfully on cancer's terms or on their own terms.

 

[geauxtohell]

Death is not a right, peeps. That said, people who want to commit suicide generally can and do find a way. Assisted suicide isn't *suicide*. It's euthanasia. And it's wrong.

And I'm tired of the left encouraging despair and constantly trying to find new ways to kill people off.

I'm tired of the right encouraging people (and there loved ones) in despair and pain to hang in there a bit longer so big pharma and the medical industrial complex can bleed the estate (and in many cases bleed Medicare/Medicade) of the terminally ill.

That's not a conspiracy by the right. Usually it's from family members who can't let go and accept that their loved one is gone and want them kept on the vent for eternity even though they are brain dead.

You can see this every day in virtually any ICU.

 

[geauxtohell]

For or Against? And why?

Against. To easy to manipulate and create a situation of outright murder.

How? The states that have this policy basically have an 8 step screening policy to ensure the patient is terminal, has decisional capacity, and hasn't been coerced into the process by outside forces.

That being completed, the physician writes a script for a "deadly drug", the patient goes to the pharmacy, get's the script filled, and self administers the dose at a time and place of their choosing.

The physician is not pushing the button. That would indeed be euthanasia and would also be a slippery slope.

In the decade that the Death With Dignity Act has been in place, only a small percentage of the patients who have obtained the script have used it. I believe it's less than 500 people.

 

[Immanuel]

Death is not a right, peeps. That said, people who want to commit suicide generally can and do find a way. Assisted suicide isn't *suicide*. It's euthanasia. And it's wrong.

And I'm tired of the left encouraging despair and constantly trying to find new ways to kill people off.

It's not euthanasia. The patient's administer the pills to themselves. They physician just writes the script. It prevents people who want to commit suicide from finding a way in which they try to blow their brains out and end up in OR as a trauma case.

Furthermore, no one is "encouraging" people to do anything. The terminal patients initiate the process and are screened.

As for dumping this on the "left", I see a lot of conservatives on here who agree.

If someone has a terminal diagnosis, why should they be relegated to suffer simply because of your religious viewpoints? In the end, they are going to die anyways. It's just a matter of if they go out painfully on cancer's terms or on their own terms.

What many don't seem to understand is that there is a difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia. I can understand a terminally ill patient wishing to end their life and a doctor being allowed to issue a prescription that would allow this to happen. I do not and will not ever support euthanasia laws.

Immie

 

[RetiredGySgt]

For or Against? And why?

Against. To easy to manipulate and create a situation of outright murder.

How? The states that have this policy basically have an 8 step screening policy to ensure the patient is terminal, has decisional capacity, and hasn't been coerced into the process by outside forces.

That being completed, the physician writes a script for a "deadly drug", the patient goes to the pharmacy, get's the script filled, and self administers the dose at a time and place of their choosing.

The physician is not pushing the button. That would indeed be euthanasia and would also be a slippery slope.

In the decade that the Death With Dignity Act has been in place, only a small percentage of the patients who have obtained the script have used it. I believe it's less than 500 people.

Once the State starts deciding who should and should not live you will end with the STate deciding who they do not need anymore.

 

[geauxtohell]

I have no issue with assisted suicide.... So long as it is ASSISTED, and not done FOR the person. They must have an active hand in terminating their own life. It can't be done totally for them by another person. That FINAL decision must be their own.

I am however for (and have my own) Do Not Resuscitate Order and Living Will that makes my wishes on end of life issues VERY CLEAR.

You should read some of Bill Colby's writings on this manner. A DNR is pretty set in stone, but a Living Will might not be as concrete as you think it is.

 

[geauxtohell]

I am heavily depressed and have been for years. I take lots of medication just to sort of function in a normal manner. I attempted suicide in 1999. I do not want to be alive. I stay so because of my family. They depend on me for support.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even if I supported assisted suicide it would ONLY be for provable terminal conditions with a very short time to live.

Assisted suicide is a BAD idea. There is no way to make it unabused and to prevent out right murder for convenience. Further if you give the Government the power to regulate who can and can not be "assisted" you WILL end with the undesirable being terminated for the convenience of the Government.

No state sanctions suicide for the mentally ill. I can't imagine physicians would support that. Assisted suicide is for very specific indications: patients with a terminal diagnosis who will suffer greatly at the had of their disease before they ultimately succumb to it.

There is another side to this that people don't realize: 50-60 years ago, we lacked the pharmacology and technology to prolong life for patients today. They generally expired before the disease reached the more advanced states (mult-organ failure, dementia, etc). Now, though are advancements are generally a blessing, the can occasionally be a curse.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I am heavily depressed and have been for years. I take lots of medication just to sort of function in a normal manner. I attempted suicide in 1999. I do not want to be alive. I stay so because of my family. They depend on me for support.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even if I supported assisted suicide it would ONLY be for provable terminal conditions with a very short time to live.

Assisted suicide is a BAD idea. There is no way to make it unabused and to prevent out right murder for convenience. Further if you give the Government the power to regulate who can and can not be "assisted" you WILL end with the undesirable being terminated for the convenience of the Government.

No state sanctions suicide for the mentally ill. I can't imagine physicians would support that. Assisted suicide is for very specific indications: patients with a terminal diagnosis who will suffer greatly at the had of their disease before they ultimately succumb to it.

There is another side to this that people don't realize: 50-60 years ago, we lacked the pharmacology and technology to prolong life for patients today. They generally expired before the disease reached the more advanced states (mult-organ failure, dementia, etc). Now, though are advancements are generally a blessing, the can occasionally be a curse.

You are aware I hope that Obama's advisers on the Health Care bill advised him that the largest savings to be had were in terminating costly care for terminal patients and the elderly. And they did not mean just those that wanted to die.

 

[Grace]

What about those not diagnosed as depressed or mentally ill but just flat don't want to continue on? For example, a couple married for 60 years. Imagine. 60 years with the same person at your side. Then one dies. The other does not want to "carry on".
What category, if any, do they fall in?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

What about those not diagnosed as depressed or mentally ill but just flat don't want to continue on? For example, a couple married for 60 years. Imagine. 60 years with the same person at your side. Then one dies. The other does not want to "carry on".
What category, if any, do they fall in?

The permanent solution to a temporary problem category. And no they should not be assisted.

 

[alexa]

Death is not a right, peeps. That said, people who want to commit suicide generally can and do find a way. Assisted suicide isn't *suicide*. It's euthanasia. And it's wrong.

And I'm tired of the left encouraging despair and constantly trying to find new ways to kill people off.

It's not euthanasia. The patient's administer the pills to themselves. They physician just writes the script. It prevents people who want to commit suicide from finding a way in which they try to blow their brains out and end up in OR as a trauma case.

Furthermore, no one is "encouraging" people to do anything. The terminal patients initiate the process and are screened.

I understand why people with terminal illness facing pain and loss of dignity would like to take charge of their death. I do still have concerns that this would be misused and so good safeguards need to be there and care needs also to be taken that it does not become expected. I might want this myself.

However for people who are suffering emotional pain and want to commit simple suicide you have just illustrated why this is indeed encouraging them to do it. It makes it simple. Also for people who have been saying that people have the right to take their own life whenever they want, well yes they do. Suicide is not against the law. But if you are wanting to commit suicide because you are depressed and I am willing to assist you then I am agreeing that your life is not worth anything. I would never agree to assist someone to commit suicide because they were depressed and I find it alarming that people believe they should be assisted (not sure whether you personally are saying this).

As for dumping this on the "left", I see a lot of conservatives on here who agree.

I don't think this is a left or right question. It is very complicated and depends on many issues not least safeguarding people.

If someone has a terminal diagnosis, why should they be relegated to suffer simply because of your religious viewpoints? In the end, they are going to die anyways. It's just a matter of if they go out painfully on cancer's terms or on their own terms.

agree as I said above.

 

[geauxtohell]

What many don't seem to understand is that there is a difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia. I can understand a terminally ill patient wishing to end their life and a doctor being allowed to issue a prescription that would allow this to happen. I do not and will not ever support euthanasia laws.

Immie

There is an absolute difference, and it's an important one. I agree with you. I would never participate in euthanasia (where I decide who lives and dies and administer the dose) - Look at what happened to Dr. Anna Pou, who was falsely accused of euthanising patients during Katrina, and you can see the medical and legal establishment takes a dim view of that.

That is much different than facilitating access to a medication that would end a life, but still has to be administered by the patient. As I noted, most people in Oregon who obtained the suicide pill in the last decade decided not to use it. Obviously, patients are exercising their own best judgment on when the pain is too extreme to go on and, if they don't meet that threshold, they don't take the pill.

BTW, I am on a surgery rotation. The trauma scenario I listed happened recently. I wasn't on call that night, but one of my classmates was. It was pretty horrific. The person never intended to survive the gunshot wound, but they did. The point is, self inflicted wounds are generally messy and frequently don't have the immediate result.

 

[geauxtohell]

Once the State starts deciding who should and should not live you will end with the STate deciding who they do not need anymore.

That's euthanasia. That is not physician assisted suicide. In PAS, the patient decides when they no longer want to live and self administer their own lethal dose and die peacefully.

No one here is advocating for euthanasia.

Death with Dignity Act | Death with Dignity Act

 

[geauxtohell]

You are aware I hope that Obama's advisers on the Health Care bill advised him that the largest savings to be had were in terminating costly care for terminal patients and the elderly. And they did not mean just those that wanted to die.

Again, that is a separate issue (and and over simplification of the matter).

 

[Douger]

I am heavily depressed and have been for years. I take lots of medication just to sort of function in a normal manner. I attempted suicide in 1999. I do not want to be alive. I stay so because of my family. They depend on me for support.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even if I supported assisted suicide it would ONLY be for provable terminal conditions with a very short time to live.

Assisted suicide is a BAD idea. There is no way to make it unabused and to prevent out right murder for convenience. Further if you give the Government the power to regulate who can and can not be "assisted" you WILL end with the undesirable being terminated for the convenience of the Government.

Have a look at your avatar and user name. Therein lies your problem.