Assisted suicide?

Question

As a senior citizen, what are your thoughts on assisted suicide? If it were legal, would you do it? I remember in class we discussed this topic, but nobody mentioned any actual senior citizen's opinion. So, I'm curious, what do you think about it?

Answer 1

I am against assisted suicide. I am also against the prolonging of a life by artificial means such as a ventilator IF there is no hope of wakening or having any quality of life. As a nurse I have seen people on ventilators for weeks, unable to move anything, unable to breathe without a machine. A tube in every orifice. It must be very painful to lie in an uncomfortable position and not be able to tell anyone you need to have a blanket because you are cold, or you are having cramps in your legs from not moving for so long.
I have had a urinary catheter before and it was terribly painful the whole time. Imagine you cannot move or even open your eyes to tell anyone. You lie there suffering.
Assisted suicide is murder to me, but for me no artificial life support. Let me go with lots of pain medicine.

Answer 2

Great question. Assisted suicide is something I've thought about before many times. I've lost my dad, and one of my best friends this year to terminal illness. Both asked for meds so they could o.d. The saddest thing is that there was no hope and technology had brought them to the point they were at. They probably would have died at least months sooner, had it not been for intervention (that they were willing to accept).
It would be hard to be the one doing the "assisting". To draw out the dying process, making their lives longer, more painful and less dignified is more the norm.
When my animals get sick beyond hope, we're able to assist them.They get a quick shot and they're done suffering. And yes, I know, animals aren't people but why would we help a poor animal that is dying, but not a human? I hope that when it is my time to go and all hope is gone that I can go when I'm ready, with dignity.

Answer 3

I am 60 years old and I have strongly believed in assisted suicide for the past 30 years and I sincerely hope that some day soon there will be more than one state in the USA who has made this option legal for those who choose how and when to end their life. Our society treats their animals more humanely than our citizens. We don't let our pet suffer when there is no hope.

Answer 4

Kittywink beat me to the answer that is almost verbatim what I think is morally acceptable. I have witnessed three deaths in the past four years, and the one that was even sadder to me than losing my husband was watching my mother-in-law have a feeding tube inserted directly in conflict with her living will because her children would not let go and follow her wishes. The hospital disregarded her living will because they were more afraid of her family litigating than an elderly woman who was dieing. My husband's choice was to leave this earth as painfree as possible when his life was coming to an end, and in one accord with his eldest daughter, I signed the DNR form. If 57 years of living qualifies as senior citizen, then I am eligible to answer. In the examples I gave, all were in the process of dying, and the only choice was how slow and painful, or how quick and merciful.

Answer 5

As a senior, I have thought about this on several different levels.This is what I have decided.
If I had an injury or illness that was excruciatingly painful, there was no chance of recovery and there was no quality of life in my future, then I would welcome assisted suicide. I feel the same if I could only be considered alive with machines supplying all my bodily functions and with no chance of improving.

Answer 6

Check out Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act" It has been around for several years and is not being abused. I read where the number of deaths per year was leveling at about 40. If someone can make the choice, let them go if they want. I also agree with the nurse that posted above. They shouldn't be keeping people alive on machines when there is ABSOLUTELY no chance that they'll ever wake up. It is a major drain on the health care system. If there is a CHANCE that they'll wake up again, then keep them alive.

Answer 7

May be you should ask the old people, especially those abandoned ones, left in the old folks home and no relatives, no friends, no acquaintances, no kind hearted souls to come at least once a week to talk to them, to listen to them and to make them happy. When you become old and all alone, all you have are just memories. If you are senile, your mind will just be blank. There are some people who do not want to get to that stage. This is reality. We cannot run away from it. However suicide in whatever form is a crime.

Answer 8

The foundation of the hippocratic oath is do no damage - or the modern-day variation isn't play at God. I consider each and every man or women has the proper to be freed from worry, suffering, and loneliness. I consider you will have a proper to decide upon your possess ideals. I consider persons who decide upon suicide are both no longer firmly in manage in their intellectual schools or agony - either one of which will have to have steps taken instantly to finish the crisis BUT no longer by way of killing them. I can not aid an intentional 3rd celebration finishing to someones lifestyles. That is how I outline the phrase homicide. If I am fired as a pharmacist for no longer issuing the morning after tablet am I additionally fired as a health practitioner for no longer killing you?

Answer 9

There are many ways to help someone out the door without being "caught." In simple terms, yes I would assist, and would hope that someone would assist me if I were to need assistance. This is not a light decision to make, and I have NO place in the equation for helping make someone else's decision about this. I would ask a serious of questions as to why the elder/handicapped/terminally ill/etc. wanted to take the train to the coast, and if ALL the answers were logical, I would agree at a LATER date...give them time to really digest the act, really see if they still felt the same way.
There are so many reasons to leave gracefully....those who have middle syndrome Altzheimers know full well what is in store for them and might want to end it BEFORE they loose the ability to make a decision! Those whose quality of life is nothing but pain and depression, those who have lost control of their lives and need assistance in even going to the bathroom, those who feel degraded by their condition and what it places on other...these and so many more reasons. Let's face it, any of us might want to say "tata" at any time. IF the feelings persist over time, and IF these reasons are logical, not depression driven, then YES, I would at least tell them how to/what to do. I, for one, will NEVER be a burden on those I love. Period! I refuse to make my living anothers hell. No thanks in any way, shape or form.
I have a living will that prevents any and all from placing me on mechanical devices for ANY REASON! I have in place Power of Att. with someone I trust to carry out these wishes, regardless of what a hospital says (hospitals make serious money maintaining a living corpse!) And I trust NO ONE in my family to carry out my wishes. I do not want to put the onus of this decision on them for any reason. IF I reach a point where I cannot play good Bridge, cannot do crossword puzzles as I can now, then I will know that I am at that place of beginning senility or Altzheimers...at that point, I will be alerted to the possibility that the end is coming sooner than hoped. Peace.

Answer 10

It's legal in Oregon, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Oregon law two days ago, just one day after Dr. Kevorkian was released from prison. I'm not sure if the two events were directly connected.

Of course, laws that permit assisted suicidee do require you to jump thru a lot of hoops to make sure you are making a rational decision. Also, you really need to tidy up your will and do what you can to ease the transfer of your estate to you heirs before you check out.

P.S.: What could be more American than "Give me liberty, or give me death,"? In the end, Patrick Henry chose to be liberated from his ailing body by drinking mercury.