Should assisted suicide be legalised?

[starlight07]

The big question: should assisted suicide be legalised?

An independent commission on assisted suicide has published a report outlining whether helping a loved one to take their own life should be 'legalised'.

Adults who are likely to have less than a year left to live could be given the chance to ask their doctor for a dose of medication that would end their life, the year-long Commission on Assisted Dying said.

The commission, chaired by former lord chancellor Lord Falconer, said that under their proposals, a terminally-ill person would need to be able to take the medication themselves, as a clear sign their actions were voluntary. But stringent safeguards must be in place.

At present the 1961 Suicide Act means that anyone helping another to take their own lives faces 14 years in prison.

However, guidelines released in 2009 following the High Court case brought by Multiple Sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy, make prosecution unlikely, if not impossible.

David Cameron has made it clear that he has no appetite for changing the law, which exists to protect the elderly and terminally ill.

But the level of support for legalising assisted suicide among the general public is rising following high-profile cases such as that of 23-year-old Daniel James, who travelled to Switzerland to end his life after being paralysed in a rugby accident.

This week's big question: should assisted suicide be legalised?

link - news.uk.msn.com/the-big-question/the-big-question-should-assisted-suicide-be-legalised

What do you think here? Should the laws be changed regarding assisted suicide? Is Cameron right?

[Forever Sunshine]

I am in favor of assisted suicide under certain circumstances such as stated above. We euthanize animals so they don't suffer. Why are we kinder to them than our loved ones?

[lonewolf]

David Cameron has made it clear that he has no appetite for changing the law, which exists to protect the elderly and terminally ill.

It's the elderly and terminally ill who want the law changed!!! I'd like to ask David what his views are when it's his mother or himself who is suffering with no hope.
Yes! Assisted suicide should be legalized. And while they're at making that change, they can get the rest of the government out of our private lives.

[Spellbound454]

I don't think enough safe guards are in place.

Its difficult to read stories of those prepared to travel to Switzerland to end their lives without thinking that they could have had the same drugs in their own homes.

...but

Legislature that would make it common place is too open to abuse.
Not every family is supportive of sick relatives and they may simply want them out of the way...or some poor old soul could be thinking he or she was a burden.

A nightmare scenario would be for the state to pressurise people into taking this action because their end of life care was too expensive.

This is one Pandoras box I don't want opened until I can be reassured that this type of thing won't happen. Our older generation should not be under any type of pressure.

Once they start giving you morphine it will shorten your life anyway....and if you are in pain enough to need it.... perhaps it will be welcomed.

[lonewolf]

I have a relative who runs our local Hospice and she told me that there are more cases than the public knows of the terminally committing suicide. Is this what we really want, these people not getting help?
Is this any different than when abortion was illegal and women were going to guys in alleys to get one? We now have laws in place to protect these women. Besides, how do we know that some boyfriend or other relative isn't talking this woman into getting one? We don't and I'm sure it happens.
You can't force people to stay alive and it should be their choice in how they end their lives and they should be able to get help in doing it.
Just my opinion. I saw my mother, in a hospital bed, begging to die and her pleas haunt me to this day.

[snerdley]

Anyone can end their life if they choose too. There are lots of ways to do so. However ,enlisting physicians or medical professionals then can open up a lot of problems as well. My concern would be that the State then forces healthcare providers to participate even if it is against their moral conscience to do so. We do have opt out laws for abortion for healthcare providers who do not want to participate so that should be the same and without repercussion not to.
As for assisted suicide, euthanasia, it gets hard to define the line. We should absolutely do what we can to alleviate suffering, to no prolong death but overly aggressive medical treatment when it is futile and so forth. And, if what has to happen is the person lies in bed medicated on a morphine drip then i agree with that as well. But, who is going to define the parameters under which this would be acceptable? Or, if you want it left up to the person, what about issues of depression and so forth that alter someone's thinking who may not really want to die but is just having difficulty . I am sure there are people who don't want to die necessarily but see no alternative. Every avenue should be explored first.

[lonewolf]

Jan 8, 2012 10:27:06 GMT -5 @snerdley said:

Anyone can end their life if they choose too. There are lots of ways to do so. However ,enlisting physicians or medical professionals then can open up a lot of problems as well. My concern would be that the State then forces health care providers to participate even if it is against their moral conscience to do so. We do have opt out laws for abortion for health care providers who do not want to participate so that should be the same and without repercussion not to.
As for assisted suicide, euthanasia, it gets hard to define the line. We should absolutely do what we can to alleviate suffering, to no prolong death but overly aggressive medical treatment when it is futile and so forth. And, if what has to happen is the person lies in bed medicated on a morphine drip then i agree with that as well. But, who is going to define the parameters under which this would be acceptable? Or, if you want it left up to the person, what about issues of depression and so forth that alter someones thinking who may not really want to die but is just having difficulty . I am sure there are people who don't want to die necessarily but see no alternative. Every avenue should be explored first.

Physicians and medical professionals are in listed to participate in abortions and safe guards are there to prevent abuse.
We would prevent the States from forcing healthcare providers to participate.
Our laws define the parameters for abortion and could do so with assisted suicide.
You speak of depression. What about the depression of a pregnant woman who doesn't want a child and has the law behind her in termination of her pregnancy?
I see similarities, yet differences in the laws and it doesn't make sense to me.

[snerdley]

I do think we need more education of the public in terms of having people make out Living Wills and Advance Directives. We should require that people do so to help sort out some of these issues in advance. I would not want to be kept alive with tube feedings and stuff like that. I think just requiring that would be a step in the right direction.

ANd, btw, I gave you your first Karma!

[lonewolf]

Jan 8, 2012 11:21:06 GMT -5 @snerdley said:

I do think we need more education of the public in terms of having people make out Living Wills and Advance Directives. We should require that people do so to help sort out some of these issues in advance. I would not want to be kept alive with tube feedings and stuff like that. I think just requiring that would be a step in the right direction.

ANd, btw, I gave you your first Karma!

Thanks Snerd. My first K!
Advanced directives is a good start.

[starlight07]

Legislature that would make it common place is too open to abuse.

I suppose we can think in a way that legislation of anything is common to abuse. Does that mean we shouldn't legalise something then? Even if there is no legislation then there can be abuse too of the system. Take the example of alcohol and powdered drugs for instance.

[Forever Sunshine]

Ya know, if anyone with half a brain and common sense sat down to pen the guidelines, it would be a whole lot better than what we have now. There's no reason to allow the pain and suffering some of our elderly go through, particularly since we have no issue whatsoever euthanizing our animals when necessary.

[femme]

As much as I understand about pain and suffering, and how hard it must be for someone to go through that, watching my Grandma die that way...I am NOT for legalizing no such thing. I believe when it is your time to go, then it should hapen naturally. These days they have enough medication and care for patients who are in terrible pain. Just speaking for myself, I wouldn't care how much pain I were in, dose me up and let me see my loved ones until I absolutely have to leave this earth. This IMO~

[lonewolf]

Jan 8, 2012 11:56:58 GMT -5 @femme said:

As much as I understand about pain and suffering, and how hard it must be for someone to go through that, watching my Grandma die that way...I am NOT fpr legalizing no such thing. I believe when it is your time to go, then it should hapen naturally. These days they have enough medication and care for patients who are in terrible pain. Just speaking for myself, I wouldn't care how much pain I were in, dose me up and let me see my loved ones until I absolutely have to leave this earth. This IMO~

There is some pain that medication won't work on. This is cruel, when like someone else said, we don't even treat our animals like that. If this were to happen to me, I would hope that I would at least be put into a coma.

[bach]

Just speaking for myself, I wouldn't care how much pain I were in, dose me up and let me see my loved ones until I absolutely have to leave this earth. This IMO~

And I would support your right to do it; but I wouldn't want you to prevent me in exercising my right to end my life when the time came where pain and suffering were beyond my endurance.

There is no slippery-slope, the countries and states which have legalised euthanasia for those people who suffer debilitating illness have not found a rush by bored relatives to sign their parents up to be euthanised, nor has the State started to dictate that those who wanted to live, but required more and more intensive support, be arbitrarily euthanised. To suggest that there are a whole raft of people who are unable to draft legislation to protect the vulnerable, or that the population are indifferent or venal enough to look the other way if the Government were to start euthanising people instead of providing palliative care is insulting.

To make euthanasia legal is not to force people to take that option, it is to prevent the prosecution of the families and medical personnel who help people who do.

[isa]

I am in favor of assisted suicide under certain circumstances such as stated above. We euthanize animals so they don't suffer. Why are we kinder to them than our loved ones?

Yes, indeed Funshine, though, with animals, they have no ability to decide such things for themselves; the owner is deemed to be entirely responsible. With humans it is a little different because it is difficult for one person to claim ownership of another in the same way that one might with pets. The body of rights which animals enjoy in the human realm is much more limited than the rights humans enjoy, thus the complexities which affect humans on this issue don’t necessarily apply to animals. The difference manifests itself in many places, though perhaps one most easily grasped is to consider the distinction we place between ‘murdering’ a goldfish and murdering a wife or husband.

Hope you’re well there.

[Spellbound454]

or that the population are indifferent or venal enough to look the other way if the Government were to start euthanising people instead of providing palliative care is insulting.

We have an aging population...in 30 years time the NHS will be struggling to cope with palliative care for the elderly... and the dying.
I hope, that when my time comes, this legislation has not gone through and been covertly extended..... though the cynic in me suspects that it may be so ....and for reasons in addition to ending suffering.
Lets hope the Nationalists don't ever get influence in government.....because its clearly in their manifesto.

Also its all very well saying that you would want your life support turned off if you were in a bad accident. There was a documentary where a young guy was in exactly that state...
He appeared to be in a persistent vegetative state but was in fact fully conscious.

The family were adamant that he would want to turn the life support machine off....but the doctor noticed he could communicate through blinking....and he clearly didn't want to die.
He was very nearly killed.........because his family thought they knew best.

A bit of an eye opener.....There are people on their death beds who would give every thing they own...... just for another minute of life.

[femme]

Jan 8, 2012 13:26:26 GMT -5 lonewolf said:

Jan 8, 2012 11:56:58 GMT -5 @femme said:

As much as I understand about pain and suffering, and how hard it must be for someone to go through that, watching my Grandma die that way...I am NOT for legalizing no such thing. I believe when it is your time to go, then it should happen naturally. These days they have enough medication and care for patients who are in terrible pain. Just speaking for myself, I wouldn't care how much pain I were in, dose me up and let me see my loved ones until I absolutely have to leave this earth. This IMO~

There is some pain that medication won't work on. This is cruel, when like someone else said, we don't even treat our animals like that. If this were to happen to me, I would hope that I would at least be put into a coma.

I DO NOT think it is cruel for someone to die naturally. That is my opinion. I wouldn't kill an animal either...Jusy an FYI...So to say I'm cruel for saying that, is an insult to me. I want to see my loved ones live for as long as possible and some of them, even in the worst of pain still want to live. It is not to be put into our hands to kill anyone unless for self defense or such causes. That is how I feel and I'm certainly not a cruel person.

[femme]

And I would support your right to do it; but I wouldn't want you to prevent me in exercising my right to end my life when the time came where pain and suffering were beyond my endurance.

Nor would anyone STOP you if you well so wished to kill yourself. Suicide happens daily, it is a very sad thing and I just hate to hear of it but it is what it is. But this is called "assisted suicide"...I wouldn't dare assist in such a thing.

[bach]

I wouldn't dare assist in such a thing.

And you shouldn't be asked to do anything against your beliefs. Dignitas manages to provide the means for people to take their own lives in a dignified manner, without any assistance from their families, and I would welcome a facility like that in the UK.

Also its all very well saying that you would want your life support turned off if you were in a bad accident. There was a documentary where a young guy was in exactly that state...
He appeared to be in a persistent vegetative state but was in fact fully conscious.

I doubt that he would be a candidate for assisted suicide because he is unable to clearly express his wishes. However, I would prefer assisted suicide to a life spent being kept alive by a machine, and only able to communicate by blinking my eyes. I would expect to be able to make that choice. I support your right to determine you way of life and dying, and I expect you not to interfere in my right to determine my way of dying. My concern is those who feel they have the right to inflict their choices on me, as you would do.

[femme]

I doubt that he would be a candidate for assisted suicide because he is unable to clearly express his wishes. However, I would prefer assisted suicide to a life spent being kept alive by a machine, and only able to communicate by blinking my eyes. I would expect to be able to make that choice. I support your right to determine you way of life and dying, and I expect you not to interfere in my right to determine my way of dying. My concern is those who feel they have the right to inflict their choices on me, as you would do.

In the situation of being hooked to a machine for a lengthy period of time, I find that different. I would probably let them take a family member off life Support in that case, if they told me that was going to be the only way they were going to stay alive but that would be the only way I would do it.