issues on life support?

Question

If you didn't have a religion, what would be your thoughts on the discontinuation of life support?

Answer 1

I am not sure how religion really comes into it.

There are considerations about the patient's wishes, primarily.

My own wishes are that I would be happy to have life support if there is good reason to expect that I could come out of the illness and life support with a reasonable quality of life.

I would be unhappy to have life support if the expectation would be that I would be severely incapacitated, particularly regarding my mental faculties, and if I was to expect a completely miserable life thereafter.

Answer 2

Religion has nothing to do with being on or off a life support
system. If you are to give the vote to disconnect someone on
life support, you are not terminating someones' life. You are
merely agreeing to ending someones' being on an artificial
means of sustaining life, unaturally. After one is removed from
this device, it's up to their bodies how they will react to breathing on their own, and letting the natural order of things
in the dying process take over. Most people don't want to
remain indefinately on a life support system. Unless they're
in a temporary coma and are expected to live if their vital
signs are all well. They have to be monitored to see if their
vitals, and brain activity drop below the normal venue, before it would be suggested that they have the plug pulled. So don't feel it would be against your or their religious beliefs. You would not be committing murder. Nor would they be comm-
ting suicide. So if that is what you are afraid of, don't consid-
er that to be the case. There should be no guilt with this de-
cision whatsoever. You will be doing them a service.

Answer 3

I think it is important to respect and follow the patient's wishes, if you know them.
If there were no previous preferences that I was aware of, I think quality of life would guide me. What is the quality of life now? Is there any chance of recovery to a better quality? If not I would seriously consider removing life support if more than one MD recommended it. First I'd talk it over with a friend, probably more than one friend, to be sure I'm looking at all the possibilities and choices.

Answer 4

It's really about what's best for the patient. The worst thing is to cling on when they are in pain and there is no hope for recovery. The only advantage of religion in this is that the family will take comfort in the belief that the patient has gone to whatever's next.

Answer 5

if it were me on life support...turn it off....other people..well...it is up to them....if you know they wont pull thru the situation...turn it off