assisted suicide clinics???

[uberdark]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090714/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_obit_downes

so i was reading that a famous conductor and his wife committed suicide together,which is sad. but i have to admit that the idea of a clinic where you kill yourself, just seems wrong. i have had family members who have died in a hospital and have just decided to \"go on\" instead of fighting. my best friend committed suicide and i have seen death first hand. no i will not go into it. but regardless to say, a clinic where you can go to die, just seems a bit wrong. now i know that they probably dont let an 18 year old boy go there who is in fit condition, but still, this reminds me too much of soylent green, or those suicide booths in futurama. of course in futurama we laughed, because it seemed so silly. but seriously, this just doesnt feel right.

A DISCLAIMER: I know this will most likely spark a hot debate, but i figured this could also help some of us understand this topic a bit more as long as we dont get too mean.

 

[alextheartist]

There was a guy here who was late teens, who was paralised because of a rugby accident (i think he was a minor pro). Basically he couldnt do anything normal and had to be fully cared for by his parents. He went with his family to a clinic (switzerland?) and commited suicide.


In my opinion as the very last resort i might consider it if the same happened to me.


We have to also remember that suicide was illigal in many places (and still is in some) untill recently.

 

[War Griffon]

I am not completely against this sort of clinic but I do object to the name \"Suicide Clinic\".

If you look at the way we live our lives at the moment we are kinder to our pets than we are to other human beings, if our pet cat, dog or whatever is terminally ill then we will have it put to sleep with no real thought about it other than to stop its suffering because it would not be able to enjoy a quality of life that we would expect it to.

So why do we deny human beings that same right?

I have always said that f I was injured in my line of work or in an accident and the injury was that bad that I could not think for myself or anything like that then I would not want to carry on living having to depend on others to carry on my life and look after me 24/7. Am I wrong for thinking along these lines?

 

[supervike]

No, you are not wrong at all.

There are solid arguments on each side of the debate.

Dr. Kevorkian, for instance, is known as the \'Death Doctor\' here in the States for championing euthanasia to terminally ill patients.

He was considered a monster is some circles, and a saint in others.

This is definitely one of those topics that have no clear answer.

 

[uberdark]

Originally posted by supervike
No, you are not wrong at all.

There are solid arguments on each side of the debate.

Dr. Kevorkian, for instance, is known as the \'Death Doctor\' here in the States for championing euthanasia to terminally ill patients.

He was considered a monster is some circles, and a saint in others.

This is definitely one of those topics that have no clear answer.

i feel it does have a clear answer... but only to each person individually.

 

[ScottRadom]

I have little problem with people who choose to end their life after much soul searching and internal debate. It\'s their life, let \'em choose.

This is different then the person who in a fit of despair can\'t see a way past their current situation and ends it. Those events are tragedies.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by uberdark

This is definitely one of those topics that have no clear answer.

i feel it does have a clear answer... but only to each person individually.

[/quote]
touche!

as a man of science, i don\'t believe in the soul or hell so i have no probs. as long as the other alternatives have been fully explored, i feel people SHOULD have a choice. it\'s ridiculous when it\'s illegal and cruel to leave an animal in a certain way but illegal to end the suffering of a human in a simalr way

 

[Shadzar]

Better someone to end their own life then to have things get worse for them and they end other peoples lives.

We already have something like that in will\'s now called DNR. Do Not Resuscitate.

Otherwise doctors would keep trying to maintain your life at the expense of your family.

I think its damn great these things exist. Something else to show many people where they have no right of place in the say of other people. It is their life to do with as they wish so let them at it.

 

[uberdark]

Originally posted by Shadzar
Better someone to end their own life then to have things get worse for them and they end other peoples lives.

We already have something like that in will\'s now called DNR. Do Not Resuscitate.

Otherwise doctors would keep trying to maintain your life at the expense of your family.

I think its damn great these things exist. Something else to show many people where they have no right of place in the say of other people. It is their life to do with as they wish so let them at it.

but what if you are in your 80\'s and cant stand the pain in your life anymore from being sick...and if you just wait a bit longer you will end up getting over said sickness and living to be 100? too many variables for me.

 

[wiccanpony]

I can speak first hand on the medical issues.... I know what my quality of life will be as my disease progresses, with the many side effects that come with it.

I want assisted suicide clinics, I want to quietly go to a last sleep. !!

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by uberdark

Originally posted by Shadzar
Better someone to end their own life then to have things get worse for them and they end other peoples lives.

We already have something like that in will\'s now called DNR. Do Not Resuscitate.

Otherwise doctors would keep trying to maintain your life at the expense of your family.

I think its damn great these things exist. Something else to show many people where they have no right of place in the say of other people. It is their life to do with as they wish so let them at it.

but what if you are in your 80\'s and cant stand the pain in your life anymore from being sick...and if you just wait a bit longer you will end up getting over said sickness and living to be 100? too many variables for me.

If there\'s any posibility that you\'ll recover I don\'t think many would chose to end their lives.

I think it should be a possibility for people, but it obviously needs to be very strictly regulated. Not least for the sake of those who work at the place...

 

[.sam.]

what i dont get is why make suicide illegal ???

you cant exactly arrest them when there dead, it seams like a pointless law.

 

[alextheartist]

Its assisted suicide sam.. that means more than one person is involved..

 

[diddy lemon1]

i disagree with suicide but i have no problem with euthanasia. Suicide is a selfish act where people are just finding things hard and rather than deal with it or get help, take an easier way out. Euthanasia on the other hand as far as im aware you need to have reason for it e.g. poor medical health. Its not like you could just walk in and be like \'i had a hard day can you kill me plz\', their had to be a solid reason for it.

 

[gothicgeek]

it is a horrible subject and always gets a reaction ( either way )

it\'s my body, when i have been told it,s gonna stop, and my life is reduced to a point of little or no dignity and continual pain i think i should be allowed to choose a humane method of shortening it.

the issue here is that anyone \" assisting \" may end up in prison... hence the requirement for clinics, or specialist medical teams

i thought that the only differance between the conductor and his wife and the average couple was money, they had sufficiant wealth to allow a trip abroad to a clinic

 

[.sam.]

Originally posted by alextheartist
Its assisted suicide sam.. that means more than one person is involved..

thats why i said why is \"suicide\" illegal :duh: lol

 

[evil tendencies]

I\'ve always thought that our lives don\'t belong to just ourselves. We are given a life for a reason, and I firmly believe that sometimes that reason is to show others how to deal with pain through grace.

An uncle of mine died of cancer 11 years ago, and his loss still hurts. Some of his friends advised him to take the quick way out - there was no hope, and we all knew it - but he refused. Instead, he spent his last few months exhorting me to change my life. Seeing him there like that...those words will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I can\'t imagine the awful spot I\'d be in if he had chosen to end his life before the pain. I\'m a better man because he didn\'t.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by .sam.
what i dont get is why make suicide illegal ???

you cant exactly arrest them when there dead, it seams like a pointless law.

well suicide is illegal, it\'s the only crime you can\'t be punished for if you succed!

Originally posted by wiccanpony
I can speak first hand on the medical issues.... I know what my quality of life will be as my disease progresses, with the many side effects that come with it.

I want assisted suicide clinics, I want to quietly go to a last sleep. !!

v
this is my point, we are making these decisions for people who are in such special circumstances. i don\'t know how i\'d react in that position, so how can we have laws that tell them how to act?

@evil, while your uncles choice befitted you, there are plenty of others who would not benefit anyone by staying around. whereby they don\'t want to live and the family don\'t want to see them suffer and not to mention the huge amount of money that is spent on looking after them and keeping them more comfortable.

living through pain is one thing but when it gets to the point where you are eating through a tube through your nose and frequently pissing and shitting the bed, there is only so much some people can take. i think it should be their choice as to whether they take it or not

 

[Naukhel]

Not touching this one. Nope.

 

[airhead]

I\'ve seen both sides of this issue first hand. My Mom-in-Law had some major medical issues that she should not have recovered from. But she did. Mostly. Sort of. What woke up was not my wife\'s mother, but much like a stroke victim, she still knew us and where she was, but her whole attitute had changed. Sad to be around, but she was still alive.

Then she had another episode. Never woke up. They finally pulled the plug and her body hung on for 10 more days. That was miserable for all involved. Had she been a horse or dog, they would have given her something to put her down. But because she\'s human and doctors take an oath, they could not.

***

A good friend of mine had her Dad go into the hospital. His heart was failing to the point they called in Hospice. The hospice nurse kept him medicated and sedated so that he slipped away much more peacefully. Did he give him too much morphine? I don\'t know, I\'m not an MD or nurse.