Euthansia

Monkey Do

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I'm touching myself as I write this post.
Not sure if this should be in the family or the politics section so I put it here.

What do you reckon? Should terminally ill people have a right to end their life? We put down animals to end their suffering yet let people get into much much worse states and do everything we can to keep them alive even when there is no hope of even a slight recovery. What the fuck is that all about eh?
 
If everyone has a right to life (basic human right), surely then they must have a right to death as well. Under the hippocratic oath that all doctors have basically followed for hundreds of years, the line DO NO HARM, is appplicable here. If treatment and the maintance of life is seen as doing more harm then good, and is deemed to be futile, then it's got to be justified hasn't it?

innit
 
When you say euthanasia are you talking about removing people from life support and medication so they can die naturally, or are you talking about ending their life prematurly to end the suffering.

I am in favour of stopping life support and medication if the situation is ultimately futile, but i am against people taking their own lifes or someone helping them take thier own life.

mt reasoning at the moment is that if we can do no more to save someone then we should do no more there is no point in draggin something out for hte sake of it.

however many people considered suicide though emotional issues but this is not legal and attempting to kill yourself may end up gettin gyou in trouble. Emotional pain can be as painful if not more than physical pain. if we are too allow Euthanasia we should allow suicide, but then how can we measure the pain someone is going throgh emotionoally or other wise to enable us to decide what is suffcient enough to warrant Euthanasia/Suicide.

and who decides?
 
We've stopped using the term euthanasia, it literally means "a good death", Now we have loads of terms such as " physician assisted suicide". It basically is done in this country, but slyly to get around the stupid laws here. With consent of patient you use : "the rule of double-effect". This is were the pain killer (usually morphine) is given at very high doses, but given for the "pain only" however it will shorten their life as a "side-effect". This can only be used for patients with severe intractable pain however.....
 
I believe people should have the right to cease to live if they so wish. I think that if i became incapable of looking after myself, i wouldnt want to put my friends and family in the position of being my full time carer.Not really the same thing but kinda related-I remember reading in the paper fairly recently about a woman who had been in an accident and was left severely brain damaged. After a few months of being on a life support machine, her husband decided to switch the machine off. They had discussed what each would do if they were ever in the situation and the husband wanted to carry out her wishes. Her family took him to court to try and stop him switching off the machine. Understandable as they did not want to lose her but surely the right thing to do is to carry out her wishes regardless of there own?
 
oli oi oi said:
We've stopped using the term euthanasia, it literally means "a good death", Now we have loads of terms such as " physician assisted suicide". It basically is done in this country, but slyly to get around the stupid laws here. With consent of patient you use : "the rule of double-effect". This is were the pain killer (usually morphine) is given at very high doses, but given for the "pain only" however it will shorten their life as a "side-effect". This can only be used for patients with severe intractable pain however.....

Interesting you should mention this, the reason the subject is in my mind is that my family was called to say goodbye to my Grandmother yesterday who is in a terrible way and has been, as my dad puts it "dying by inches" for the last few years.

Anyway she's basically unable to move, can barely open her eyes, vomiting blood (suspect stomach cancer but there is no point in finding out)...incredibly sad and undignified end...she managed to whisper a couple of words to my grandfather a few days ago "I love you, help me" and now we are just sitting around waiting for her to take her last breath.

But several times at the hospital yesterday members of staff asked us about her morphine levels and if we thought they should be turned up - I take it this is a subtle way of asking if we wanted to engage the "rule of double-effect"?

As my mother said "if I ever get close to that stage I hope there is a pill or something to end it"
 
i don't think i could end someones life like, unless it was a very specific request, i think i would be racked with all sorts of guilt. maybe she meant something else? but thats me little parania thingy
 
I agree with the problem of euthanasia

but

when my grandparents were reaching the end of their days they often expressed their concern of being a burden

I am worried that if euthanasia is introduced, terminally ill people such as my grandparents would consider an early death so that they no longer burdened their families.
 
That's a really sad story, and i've seen many a time around the homes and hospitals. The law really needs to be changed, as people do have a right to die comfortably and in a dignified way. They probably were hinting at that yes... you might consider talking to them a bit more they might be a bit more open about it.... However if they admit the reason for upping the dose is to end life than they could end up with severe disciplanary action.
If you wanna pm any questions i'll do my best to answer.
 
Thanks Oli, if I think of anything I need to know I'll pm you.

I can see what other people are saying about if Euthanasia is made legal then people may choose...or even in extreme cases feel pressured into ending their lives way too early but I think there has to be a line there somewhere, for extreme cases with the correct procedures in place a lot of suffering in peoples final days/hours whatever could be saved.
 
My mother died of bowel cancer two years ago. The last three weeks of her life was constant pain with no purpose served. She wanted to die earlier and with dignity and was forced to undergo a humiliatng and degrading drawn out collapse.

This was painful not only for her but for her family and those around.

We all should all have the right to choose the time of our passing with dignity surrounded by our loved ones.

Hunter S Thompson and Hemingway had it right... take things into your own hands before you are too weak to do so...
 
i really think if you to a point where monkey do grandmother is you should be able to help her die .

shes in so much pain that the only way to stop it is turn up the drugs . she does not deserve to die like that .
 
Everybody should have the right to make decisions about their lives, even if that ultimately means they want their life to end.

Regardless of the law, 5000 people commit suicide in Britain every year. This is a sad state of affairs, and one indicative of our tendency to shut people out and fail to listen. Most of these people kill themselves because they have crippling emotional or physical pain and cannot find a way of coping with it. I strongly believe that many of these people would change their minds if they had somewhere to turn, someone to help them through their crisis.

However, some people have crises that cannot be solved. Debilitating terminal disease can cause this. When you know you've only got a short amount of time left, and things are only going to get worse, who is the state to say that you shouldn't take matters into your own hands? The people making the laws, can they feel your pain? Do they really know what it's like?

Having said that, I would like to think that most people would not choose euthanasia. As a Buddhist I feel that every moment of mindfulness is precious, and have learnt ways of working with pain, and the onset of death, to bring about enlightenment. But I am one in six billion. It is not for me, or anyone else, to deny someone the right of choosing their own fate.
 
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