Best Posts in Thread: Should Assisted Death (Physician-Assisted Suicide) be legal?

If anyone has rights to their own body, it should be oneself.

If oneself doesn't own their own body, who the hell does?

 

this was a wild ride
We have people jumping off buildings, legalizing drugs, and physician assisted suicide

Pick a topic pls

 

Good point, but I think there are a couple of differences.

1) Generally, in most cases, that decision comes from a family member or someone with legal authority over the patient.

2) If a machine is required to keep them alive in all intent and purpose, and without that machine, all vital organs will shut down, is that person really alive? People with pacemakers/defibs can still live a full life using these machines, but a person on life support still isn't living any life other than just being alive.


I'm from Michigan where we had Dr. Kavorkian (sp), and I support the notion of assisted suicide, but I would prefer it be from a completely different type of doctor, not the types who are charged with keeping people healthy and alive. I wouldn't want to be seen by a doctor who assists in suicide because any participation in a death is a traumatic experience for a person, and I wouldn't trust judgement with that kind of burden on it.

 

Do you really think they care? They're dead, what people think of you has no merit. Besides, sensible people will understand.

So essentially what you're saying is "Woohoo! I'm gonna die in 3 months anyway because I have terminal cancer, but might as well just feel all the excruciating pain I can!"

It's not "going out fighting" it's going out experiencing unimaginable pain.

 

Just looking for opinions. Here in Canada, in mid-June of this year the legislature passed a bill that allowed the assisted death of an individual. If you want exact details, here they are;

Bill C-14; Physician-Assisted Suicide (open) Bill C-14; Physician-Assisted Suicide (close)

241.2 (1) A person may receive medical assistance in dying only if they meet all of the following criteria:

(a) they are eligible — or, but for any applicable minimum period of residence or waiting period, would be

eligible — for health services funded by a government in Canada;

(b) they are at least 18 years of age and capable of making decisions with respect to their health;

(c) they have a grievous and irremediable medical condition;

(d) they have made a voluntary request for medical assistance in dying that, in particular, was not made as a result of external pressure; and

(e) they give informed consent to receive medical assistance in dying after having been informed of the means that are available to relieve their suffering, including palliative care.



(2) A person has a grievous and irremediable medical condition only if they meet all of the following criteria:

(a) they have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability;

(b) they are in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability;

(c) that illness, disease or disability or that state of decline causes them enduring physical or psychological

suffering that is intolerable to them and that cannot be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable;

and

(d) their natural death has become reasonably foreseeable, taking into account all of their medical circumstances, without a prognosis necessarily having been made as to the specific length of time that they have remaining.

The key procedural safeguards are as follows:

(3) Before a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner provides a person with medical assistance in dying, the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner must

(a) be of the opinion that the person meets all of the criteria set out in subsection (1);

(b) ensure that the person’s request for medical assistance in dying was

(i) made in writing and signed and dated by the person or by another person under subsection (4),

and

(ii) signed and dated after the person was informed by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner that

the person has a grievous and irremediable medical condition;

(c) be satisfied that the request was signed and dated by the person — or by another person under subsection (4) — before two independent witnesses who then also signed and dated the request;

(d) ensure that the person has been informed that they may, at any time and in any manner, withdraw

their request;

(e) ensure that another medical practitioner or nurse practitioner has provided a written opinion confirming that the person meets all of the criteria set out in

subsection (1);

(f) be satisfied that they and the other medical practitioner or nurse practitioner referred to in paragraph

(e) are independent;

(g) ensure that there are at least 10 clear days between the day on which the request was signed by or on behalf of the person and the day on which the medical assistance in dying is provided or — if they and the

other medical practitioner or nurse practitioner referred to in paragraph (e) are both of the opinion that

the person’s death, or the loss of their capacity to provide informed consent, is imminent — any shorter period that the first medical practitioner or nurse practitioner considers appropriate in the circumstances;

(h) immediately before providing the medical assistance in dying, give the person an opportunity to withdraw their request and ensure that the person gives express consent to receive medical assistance in dying;

and

(i) if the person has difficulty communicating, take all necessary measures to provide a reliable means by which the person may understand the information that is provided to them and communicate their decision.

Assisted suicide should be legalized, it is a right thing to do to offer a third option when people are facing death.

Imagine if you are facing the endless suffering and excruciating pain but can do nothing to end it. You are desperate need of terminating your agony but you will not ask your beloved ones to help you, because it would likely to put them into serious troubles that will destroy their lives. It is stunning that when people are facing death, in their darkest and most desperate moment of life, nobody could offer a little help because of the law bans the help.

Example 1:
A woman starved herself 25 days to death. in addition to the unbearable pain and torture form her terminal illness, she suffered 25 day's dehydration and starvation, just because physician assisted suicide is banned in England. her family members were emotionally broke down seeing their beloved mother and wife struggling in the edge of death, but they can do nothing about it except begging the medics to give her some drugs to release the pain.

Example 2:
In another case, a promising graduate student shot his beloved brother because he couldn't ignore his brother's constant cry and plea to die... he lost his chin and an arm and his organs were deteriorating because of the skin cancer, he had 6 month to suffer if his brother did not help him to relieve. however, the young man was arrested for murder, and he has to face a more than 10 years of sentence and a record of criminal for the rest of his life. the price for releasing his brother is enormous, he set his brother to free but put him self to the hell. why did he choose ruining his own life if it was not because of love? could you imagine the stress and pressure when he lifted the gun and shot his brother?

people are facing these choices every day, because someday, we will all have to encounter death.
what if our society, our legislation system could help, what if they could offer a third choice? if the laws force the ones who could and are willing to help stay inactive to protect the so-called value of life, and left the people dying without dignity, then the laws just failed people's trust. if the doctors barely see their patient's suffering and mechanically obey their hypocratic oath to "do no harm", their indifference to people's pain are actually doing harm to patients' trust.
although majority of the medical related professions are reluctant to end others' lives, some believe that is a right thing to do. but they are banned by our legislation and could not sacrifice their career to help...
let those who want to help help, the legislation should sanction physician assisted suicide, that is the least they can do...

took me long enough to type that up, there's homers rant. sorry if there are any errors ):