What are your thoughts about...?

Question

assisted suicide...I would like to know your thoughts with respect to people who are considered competent and are in debilitating health conditions (physical or mental). You can reason in any way that you would like. I am interested in this subject for research, so I would like to read different opinions

Answer 1

It's a great question - and one that you must evaluate from many sides - mental/emotion, spiritual and physical.

Mentally/emotionally - I cannot imagine how you could adequately and accurately test someone to see if they are competent to make a choice to commit suicide. Most terminally ill patients are loo loo from pain medication to make a sound choice near the end, and I'm guessing that early on they wouldn't choose suicide as a method of escape.

Spiritually - I was reared to believe that your body does not actually 'belong' to you - if you are a Christian, then Jesus 'purchased' your soul and if you commit suicide (assisted or otherwise), then you are committing murder.

Physically - what if you are too ill to even push a button? My grandmother was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 1966, and chose to end her life by taking a 'suicide pill' given to her by her physician in Germany. We were with her when she died, and let's just say - it wasn't an easy death. She took in early morning and it took almost all day for her to die.

We've discussed this at length in my Geriatric Psychology class, and it's a difficult choice for a perfectly healthy person to even consider. My Grandmother suffered an unspeakable death, and I often wonder how long she would have lived, and what quality of life would she have had, had she chosen life instead of death.

Thank you for a great question - sorry my answer is so long!

Answer 2

The wishes of the individual are ultimately the most important consideration, since only they know what is it like to live in their subjective reality. This is of course only applicable where a person is suffering from a medical condition so debiliatiting that their life-propsects are short-time. In other words, if their quality of life is so poor or non-existent, and propsects of improvement are so remote, that ongoing existence would only prolong their suffering. In such circumstances, the individual and their family should have the power to decide, not doctors.

Answer 3

It’s sad that we punished Dr. Kevorkian, who brought this issue before us in a courageous manner, by putting him in jail. Now, we’ve moved to a position where we even have government officials persecuting long suffering relatives (the Florida Shiavo case) who make agonizing decisions regarding their loved ones hospital care.

Many societies have traditions for aiding death or at least recognizing the appropriate time of its arrival and knowing what to do. Some in the desert use dehydration to hasten its arrival. Others living in the cold will expose themselves.

What we have done in America is declare a kind of war against death in all forms, and embraced a kind of entitlement of maximal medical intervention for all as a universal right. This in my opinion is mostly an advantage for those in the health care industry, and is not a compassionate response to the infirm. Even doctors have come to recognize this as they essentially torture their patients in their last days of life when they could be at home in a loving hospice setting surrounded by loved ones.

Hospice itself is a kind of assisted suicide by withholding health care and using pain relieving medicines that often hasten ones physical decline.

Here in America we have become far too dependent and invested in health care. As such we don’t really know what to do when our time arrives, except to put our loved ones in the hospital. Given this terrible lack of life knowledge we need the help of the medical profession to make the transition into death. We already allow withholding treatment. To actively intervene in order to stop suffering, to control the time of death’s arrival, to intervene because a person is already functionally dead and their physical persistence wrecks great suffering on loved ones all are good reasons to allow assisted suicide.

Instead of persecuting all forms of assisted suicide, government, the churches, and the medical establishment should be deeply examining the issues that surround death, and teach what it is that can be done to help families and individuals in the death process. Resources should be put into these life enhancing treatments instead of off the chart costly and disrespectful medical interventions.

Answer 4

I 100% agree with a person that has an incurable illness and the pain everyday. Cant blame them to want this. Its humaine and compassionate. Last I heard only those into S & M liked pain all the time.

Answer 5

The worst day of my life was when my brother tried to kill himself.

Answer 6

I don't get why that's illegal, but abortion IS legal. Makes no sense to me.